Traversing the New Eden
by Purple Karma
Summary: In a futuristic Earth, resources are running thin. While the planet steadily recovers from a War fought over what's left, humanity's only salvation lies not beyond the stars, but beyond dimensions.
1. Chapter 1

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, today is a day that will go down in the annals of human history. Not only as a performance of sheer impossibility but also as the ultimate saving grace for the entirety of mankind. Even though the invention of the Uranian-Interstellar Drive has allowed us to traverse the farthest reaches of space, I believe that what we have discovered here today will lead us into a more prosperous future for all of mankind. No longer will we have to waste precious time, resources, and risk the safety of our fellow humans, travelling millions of miles in an endless void searching for a new hospitable home. Instead, this new machine will reduce all of our international spending and allow us to save what little resources we have left while also allowing us to begin our search anew, right here from safety of our dying world."_

-International Speech delivered to the United Space Coalition of Nations in the capital city of Genesis by Cameron Newborn, head scientist of the Uranian Technology and Research Corporation.

 **Chapter 1:** _ **Decaying Planet, A New Discovery**_

 **Personal ID: Cpl. David "Corpse" Cormac**

"I call complete and utter _bullshit_."

"You call bullshit on everything, Teage."

"Only when I know for a fact that it's bullshit. And trust me, my friend, this right here is complete, Grade-A, one-hundred-and-ten-percent, _**bullshit**_."

"Give it a rest, man. Ain't like they got anything else cooking up in that lab that's actually useful."

"I'm sorry, I guess those new EXO-Stability Implants they made back in '86 flew right over your head, didn't they? You know, the ones that saved your ass back in the war over Phobos?"

"Hey, _fuck you_. That was one time and my legs were torn to shit. Anybody who relies on implants or injections instead of their own two feet and hands doesn't deserve to be called a _real_ soldier. 'Cause unlike you I actually like to use my own strength instead having all the drugs and machines do it for me. Fucking junkie."

"What the fuck you just say to me you cocksucking son of a bitch-"

"Alright, that's _enough_! Stow the bellyaching before I come over there and pull your tongues out of your asses!"

"Yessir. Sorry, sir."

"Tch, whatever, man."

I shook my head and tried my best to ignore yet another damn squabble between my two squad mates as they bitched at each other from across the mess hall table. All I ask is that we try to enjoy one simple meal in peace and quiet whenever we get done with an Op, yet these two dumbasses somehow find the need to almost kill each other at every turn. Honestly if it wasn't for the squad's God-given savior, who just so happened to be our own Sgt. Franklyn Roberts, I'm pretty sure that we would have all blown our brains out or left to go find more seemingly normal squads to join. It wasn't that our squad was horrible or anything but with the way that our Rifleman, Jackson Teage and our Technician, Andrew Gorrey, go at each other like a couple of wolves fighting over a carcass, it makes enjoying this ragtag group of soldiers just a little too hard to enjoy. Even after the numerous wars and skirmishes we fought and bled over together, they still somehow find a way to gut each other. Not that I'm necessarily complaining, of course. Their fights do tend to bring some enjoyment around the squad when we have nothing better to do besides combat drills and firing exercises. I honestly think half of this squad might have even shot themselves out of the pure boredom we face mostly nowadays since we don't really have anybody else to shoot at, what with most of the major planetary wars over with. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we enjoy fighting in wars or that we do it just to get rid of some stress, but at the very least they give us something to do. Minus all of the blood, guts, and screams of agony.

Sometimes it didn't pay to get out of bed.

"But seriously, though. Do you guys really believe what that fuckin' whack job-of-a-scientist, Newborn, is sayin'? What the fuck could he possibly mean by a "machine being our saving grace"? What the fuck does he think the Interstellar Drive is for? Tourism around the Milky Way or some shit?"

"Obviously, Teage, since he thinks this new machine will somehow top light speed travel." This came from our squad's Sniper, Jennifer Whales, who was seated on my right across from Teage. She was a young woman about my age with brown hair pulled into a bun with clear skin and blue eyes. She was a Corporal like myself and always had a knack for annoying the hell out of Teage, mostly for her own personal amusement.

And as the saying goes, "Don't mess with the bull or you get the horns", Teage gave her a nasty glare and looked as though he were a second away from lunging at her throat.

"Piss off, Whales. Nobody fuckin' asked you."

And like always, she simply shrugged as if his words were nothing but tiny pebbles being thrown at her and went back to enjoying her music through her Holo-Tactical Pad on her wrist, ignoring the world around her through her ear buds. I seriously never understood how she was even able download music on it in the first place since it was an expensive piece of U.S.C.N Military hardware that wasn't supposed to be used for personal purposes but I guess we all have our secrets.

Even though I rarely agreed on anything with Teage, nor did anybody else in our squad for that matter, I couldn't help but throw my lot in with him. We had all heard about the big discovery they made at the U.T.R Corporation a few days ago, hell everyone in the entire Solar System as far as Saturn had heard about it. Apparently they had discovered a new way of finding us a new home somewhere out there in the universe without actually having to travel there by starships. According to them, it had been one of the biggest and brightest of breakthroughs that the human race had achieved ever since we started the first colonization on Mars back in 2078. With the invention of the Uranian-Interstellar Drive that allowed us to open rifts in space and time, or what they called "Wormholes" using some sort of super powered reactors, humanity was able to get to-and-from each of the nine planets within the Solar System within the span of a few minutes at the least and an hour at the most, a trip which would've taken months or even years a few decades ago through the use of Cryogenic Sleep inside small capsules slowly floating through space. In all honesty, it was a Godsend. Because traveling at the speed of light was now possible, the entire human race had been practically begging the Coalition to send their ships out and start colonizing every planet and moon they could find. With the ever growing population at an enormous span of over 9.4 billion as of 2081, we were all desperate for a little bit of elbow room instead of having to share it on this already cramped ball of mud and water, not that there was that much water to begin with since the Coalition had been straining itself for years to maintain as much water as they could for the large Earth population. Lucky for them, they had been able to discover a few major bodies of drinkable H20 on Mars and even some on its moon, Phobos. Though this discovery was what ironically lead to the Water War over Phobos that me and my squad had fought in in 2084. Apparently a few Private Military Companies didn't like the idea of having to share the newly discovered water sources with the rest of the growing population and tried to take it all for themselves. In 2085 they had gotten together and formed what they called the Oasis Alliance and suddenly we had a whole goddamn fleet's worth of P.M.C Phoenix-Class Starships attacking and blowing up Uranian Outposts and setting Coalition Colonies ablaze, killing everyone they saw just so they could get their hands on a bit of liquid. It's amazing what lengths people will go to just to get what they want. Bunch of sick fucks they were.

Suddenly I was feeling very glad that I was given the chance to rip a few of their Vacu-Masks right off their faces. How I would just sit there and watch as they slowly turned blue from the lack of oxygen and froze to death before their corpses were left to float aimlessly through the eternal void. Guess that's why they called me Corpse. Because I leave so many where I go. And sometimes I enjoyed it.

Thankfully the entire threat of the P.M.C's had only lasted about a year, but that didn't mean that the destruction was kept at a minimum. Last I heard, at least 200,000 good men, women, and innocent children were lost to the greed of these Military Companies. Over 200,000 souls gone from existence because people chose to survive for themselves instead of each other. Seriously, the whole point of the damn voyage was to try to restore some of our already depleted, and still depleting, resources so that the entire human race could survive, yet these people thought they could just put themselves before the billions of other that were starving and dying of thirst? Don't make me laugh.

It's a sad Universe we live in, really. No wonder we haven't made any extraterrestrial contact yet. Who the hell would want to get into contact with a species that kills each other for something as simple as water?

But after hearing what this Cameron Newborn fellow had to say over the interstellar radio, I couldn't help but find myself a little curious despite all of the skepticism that I still had. Sure, humanity was capable of a lot of things that were deemed as impossible such as traveling at the speed of light, the Interstellar Drives were a testament to that. But what could they have discovered that even capable of surpassing speeds of up to 186,000 miles per second? But whatever it was, I just hoped that it didn't end up in another shit storm like Phobos did.

"Yo, Corpse, you believe any of the shit they're spewin'?" Teage's voice brings me out of my thought process as he gives me a semi-pointed and pissed off look from across the table, almost as if he's threatening me into agree with him.

I shrug my shoulders and swallow the lump of meat that I bit off from my burger. Some things never change over the years and food is definitely one of them, thank the Lord. "I really don't have a damn clue, Teage. Maybe I do and maybe I don't. Guess we'll just have to wait and see now, won't we?" I bite off another chunk of medium rare meat and cheddar just to stop myself from talking. I always hated taking sides between Teage and Gorrey and it always resulted in one or the other getting pissed off at me like I was the one who was at fault.

Teage obviously didn't like my response and fixed me with another one of his "steaming hot glares" as Whales always called them. "Gee, thanks for the fucking backup there, _Corpse_. You're about as useful as goddamn faucet leak. Don't know why I even bother asking you in the first place." He then picking up his double decker burger and ripped just about half of the damn thing in one bite before roughly chewing it like some wild animal. No wonder the other soldiers call him "Teage the Tiger."

"Who put a stick up your ass today, Jack? Ain't nobody forcing you to believe whatever it is they're saying on the radio. We're allowed to have opinions in case you haven't fuckin' noticed. So why the fuck you ripping into everyone lately?" And here comes the second voice of reason and our other squad mate, Miles Monroe, who was our Demolitions/Explosives Operator. Besides Sgt. Roberts, he was the one who would diffuse, no pun intended, any situation that occurred between Teage and Gorrey whenever the Sarge wasn't around. He had short blonde hair and was about a year or two younger than me and was kind of quiet, sometimes keeping to himself, but rile him up enough and he'd tear you apart more than his homemade bombs would.

"You wanna know what my fucking problem is, Monroe? My problem is that I'm just sitting here on my ass eating this God-awful meat and listening to some fucking looney talkin' about some weird-ass machine that'll apparently "save the human race" instead of going back out there and shooting the caps off of those Oasis fuckers. Hell, I'll even settle for some of those squabbling extremists back on Luna just as long as I get to _**fucking shoot something**_." He said the last part in a low and quiet growl but we all managed to hear him. No one bothered to make a reply, not even Gorrey made an attempt to piss him off further with another smart ass remark as we all simply settled for eating in silence for the first time since we got here. The only noise we were hearing were the sounds of our teeth mashing the food in our jaws and the background conversations of the numerous other soldiers within the mess hall. For once, we were having a quiet meal together as a squad. A tense and pissed off squad but a squad nonetheless.

I know why Teage was so admit on returning to the front lines, especially when it had to do with the Oasis Alliance. His sister, Jessica, was an Officer onboard the _U.S.C.N_ _Retribution_ , one of the first of many Coalition warships to be sent to Phobos airspace after the Alliance had attacked the colony naval ports. She and the rest of the crew had been sent as an extraction team to get any remaining survivors off-world while a backup fleet of warships had been sent to provide extra protection. The operation had been going smoothly and the _Retribution_ along with several other extraction ships had managed to gather hundreds of fleeing colonists while taking minimal damage against enemy aircraft. That is, until the _Retribution_ had been hit by a stray NOVA- Class Missile fired from a nearby Alliance frigate, which had enough firepower to reduce the entire 2.4 km long ship into smoldering pieces, killing everyone onboard almost instantly. Jessica's body was never found, having either been completely vaporized by the heat from the explosion or slowly drifting off in space along with hundreds of others and the debris of dozens of destroyed ships. The fact that there wasn't even a body to bury was what probably killed Teage the most on the inside, not even getting the chance to say goodbye to his only sister in person one last time. Something like that would cause even the toughest of soldiers to be reduced to tears. Not that he ever let us see any of his tears but we knew he was crying on the inside.

After that day, he swore that he would never show mercy to a single person who called themselves a member of Oasis. And true to his word, he never did. When we were called to retake to ruined city of Aradite from Oasis control, Teage pour all of his anger into every bullet he shot and every swing of his energized knife. No one, not men, women, or even the youngest of soldiers who were about 18 were safe from the Tiger's wrath. No matter how many times they cried, screamed, begged, he would silence them with a swipe of his claws. He laughed at their pathetic please for mercy. Why should they deserve mercy after what they had taken from him and so many others? Why should they be spared when they could've done the same to others? We didn't know nor did we bother finding out. All it took was one swipe from the Tiger's claw and the rest is history.

Some soldiers say he's more Demon than Tiger. We don't bother to correct them. Sometimes we think so ourselves.

* * *

Cameron Newborn knew he would be expecting this. After all, no one simply stands up in front of over a hundred world leaders and blatantly declares to over half the Solar System on the Planetary Holonet that they have found a way to search for a new home for all of humanity that would no longer require the use of the Uranian-Interstellar Drive. It was one of the major pros and cons of being the Head Scientist of the U.T.R.C. Whenever a new technological discovery was made that would prove to change humanity for the better, people were always more skeptical that believing. It had been the same when they had finally found a way to making shortcuts across space and time through the use of Wormholes. It didn't bother him so much, as people tended to believe such things only existed in Science-Fiction novels and movies. Yet, when the Interstellar Drive had been first put to use, the people of Earth no longer held their disbelief. That was honestly the second best part of his job. Silencing people into disbelief with their technological marvels. Though he sometimes wished that more people would keep an open mind rather than trying to disprove his inventions the first change they got.

Yet here he was, standing amidst those so called disbelievers, who just o happen to be the military leaders of two of the most powerful nations on the face of the Earth in one of the underground levels of the U.T.R.C's main facility.

"Mr. Newborn, we both know that you have created some of the most astonishing devices that has aided humanity in these trying times of need. What with Earth's still-overgrowing population and the vast depletion of our resources, you and your research division have been the sole reason why we are still able to remain here on our home planet for what little time we have left. But are you really trying to tell us that this _machine_ will do just what you say it does? Opening a rift through space and time and traveling at light speed was hard enough to achieve, but are you really trying to tell us that it's possible for this machine to open up rifts to other _dimensions_?"

This question was posed by the leader to all of New America's military personal second to only the President himself. The man was a tall and bulky fellow who's soft yet stern voice did not at all fit with his appearance. He had deep pale skin and looked as though he could put a dent in a tank by simply flicking his finger. Large, toned muscles were hidden behind his standard issue navy blue officer's uniform that was adorned with metals from past experiences in hell within and out of Earth. America's everlasting red, white, and blue flag was stitched onto his right shoulder. His general's cap sat neatly atop his head of cleanly shaven dark hair. Five gold stars adorned the front of his cap, indicating his rank above the rest of his men. Though his most prominent feature was his face which looked as though it was carved out of stone. A neatly trimmed goatee, a fine nose, and the deepest pair of icy blue eyes that would make any man freeze in place with even the simplest of gazes. A lone scar from a past knife wound trailed from his left eye down to the bottom of his jaw. The honest, yet deadly 5-Star General, Jacob Tiberius, looked torn between palming his own face at the sheer absurdity of what was coming out of the scientist's mouth or simply leaving the room altogether.

" _Da_ , is this really the time to be filling our heads with more of your fantasies, Mr. Head Scientist? Because we really have more important things to consider at the moment."

The man besides the New American General was even scruffier than he was. A large, brunette beard adorned the entirety of his jaw and lower face and connected perfectly with his sideburns, making him look like a future Fidel Castro. Though the scruffy look was kind of ruined by the small set of freckles that covered the majority of his dark and pale face. A pair of steely green eyes looked at the scientist in annoyance as he crossed his muscled arms over one another. Like Tiberius, the man was also a General and could be seen wearing his standard issue uniform, though his was a darker brown rather than a navy blue. No war medals or gold stars were adorned on his uniform and hat but he didn't need medals for people to know who he was. His history in the battlefield was more than enough identification. Lastly, and image of two golden sickles crossed over a golden hammer with a red background was stitched onto his right shoulder. A symbol of the New Russian Federation.

General Vadim Krochevski looked at the head scientist with bit of murder in his eyes. "I have no time to waste on fairy tales, Newborn. The Council demands my attention back in the Motherland. Speak whatever it is you must before I lose my patience." His low and gravel voice could be comparable to an earthquake.

Newborn was unfazed, simply cuffing his hands behind his back before speaking firmly. "Gentlemen, as General Tiberius has already stated, our planet is at her wits end. Because of overpopulation and the war with the Oasis Alliance, our spending in resources has doubled in the past year in order to redouble our colonizing efforts and rebuilding our lost cities on Phobos and Mars. Because of the use of the Interstellar Drive, we have been able to discover and harvest new resources found on planets within our Solar System but it simply isn't enough. Because of the constant use of the Drive and efforts into colonizing new worlds, we are spending more than we are earning. Humanity's overall population is predicted to reach an estimated 10 billion by the year 2100, and with what we have now, there is no possible way we can ever hope to sustain that much life if we don't act quickly. We have gotten this far by switching over to nuclear energy as our main energy source rather than fossil fuels, but even then I doubt we would last much longer unless we do something right now. That is why we of the Uranian Technology and Research Corporation have found a new way of searching for mankind's salvation without risking further resources as well as the lives of our fellow humans. If you'll be so kind as to follow me, I will gladly show you what I mean." Without waiting for a single reply, the scientist turned around a left through a set of double doors. The two military leaders gave each other a raised eyebrow in confusion before reluctantly following the scientist through the doors.

The three made their way down a dimly lit hallway before reaching an elevator that took them further down the bowels of the research facility. The ride was quiet and ominous between the three men before the doors opened up to reveal another hallway that had four doors on each side with a larger set of double doors reaching the end. The men passed each door before reaching the end of the hallway. Just before they were about to pass through, Newborn stopped and turned to face the two Generals.

"I must warn you that what you're both about to see may come as bit of shock to you." And like the last time, the scientist passed through the double doors without waiting for a reply.

The Generals, feeling as though the whole world were about to topple over them, gave each other a very wary glance before they, too, passed through the doors without a single word. Not knowing that what awaited them from behind would change the entire world for better or for worse.

* * *

"Man, I am so fucking sick and tired of this shit. Ain't nothing to do but walk around and be bored as all fuck."

"For once I agree with you, Gorrey. Oh Lord, how I wish I had a rifle back in my hands right about now."

After we had finished our tense but relatively quiet meals back at the army mess hall, we decided to walk around and take in the sights of Genesis. The unified capital city had been built on what was once the island of Sardinia sometime around the 60's just off the coast of France and Italy. Not only that, but the island had also been artificially expanded so that it could accompany more people who visited just about every year. Big metal towers and skyscrapers that reached into the sky as far as the eye could see took up the majority of the center of the island. Along the coast were dozens of resorts, hotels, and casinos where the local and foreign populace could play and sleep their hearts out. One of the few military bases where we were stationed was built just a few miles east of one of the islands more prominent seafood restaurants, which had been named _The Loch Ness_ after the mythical see beast. The restaurant had been recognized for its night dining due to the fact that you could get a perfect view of the stars from outside. With its beautiful view of the sky and the ocean, along with its endless visits from the local military personnel, I couldn't imagine that place going out of business anytime soon.

As we walked along the sidewalk that connected to the sandy beach on our right, I couldn't help but marvel at the view I was getting. For a planet that was on the edge of dying it still never failed to somehow retain its natural beauty. The sky was a heavenly shade of blue with little to no clouds while the Mediterranean held a shade of clear green, making it look like pure melted emerald with the way the sun's light reflected off its surface. Numerous fishing boats and even a few battleships and other military-grade ships could also be seen making their daily patrols or just floating lazily amongst the civilian vessels. Even after the numerous upgrades to old tech over the past few decades, the introduction of Hover and Walker-Class military ground-to-air units, and the invention of Starships, the Coalition never ceased its production of it sea-worthy vehicles, something I knew the old Veterans of the Navy were thankful for.

Besides the various ships, hundreds to maybe even thousands of people from every ethnicity you could think of had littered the beaches like ants to a picnic, not that I could blame the amount exactly. When Genesis had finished its construction sometime around 2070, it had become the number one tourist attraction in the entire world. Everyone from all corners of the globe who had $10,000 of their income to spend came here just about every year for some simple rest and relaxation. In fact, the city was so popular that the world leaders of the old United Nations, just before it was renamed to the United Space Coalition of Nations, had decided to relocate its main headquarters here altogether. Though for all its beauty and popularity, I never understood why anyone would want to spend that much money just for a simple vacation. Too much of a waste if you asked me. This city might've been the prime example of Paradise itself but it's still too damn expensive if you ask me. Thank God military personal had all of their expenses paid or else I would've been bankrupt from staying a single night at a hotel.

As soon as I was finished with my sightseeing I turned my attention back towards my squad, most notably Gorrey who had his face scrunched up in annoyance as he looked at the stampede of beachgoers.

"Man, does everybody and their fuckin' grandma have to be here? Swear to God you can't walk two feet without bumpin' into some random asshole," as if the universe was playing a practical joke on him, Gorrey was harshly bumped on the shoulder by a pedestrian who quickly walking in the opposite direction and didn't even bother stopping for a quick apology. Gorrey glared at the person before quickly flipping them the middle finger and muttering, "Well fuck you too, asshat."

Whales, who was still listening to music on her Holo device, slapped Gorrey on the shoulder with a grin. "Aw lighten up, Gore. Not like these people have anything better to do than to waste their paychecks playing Roulette and building sand castles."

Gorrey brushed off her hand and gave her an annoyed glance. "Yeah? Well I wish they'd waste it somewhere else. 'Member when people used to laze their asses around places like Hawaii or Dubai? Why can't we go back to that? Sure as shit was a lot less people that's for damn sure."

I decided to throw in my two cents. "Because spoiled rich assholes only like to throw their money away in places they think deserve it?"

"Or because people want to brag to their friends online about how lucky they were to finally go on their dream vacation." Monroe spoke up with a grin of his own.

"Or maybe it's what Whales said, they have nothing fucking better to do than to waste their money on useless shit for a week," said Teage from the back of the squad, his arms crossed over each other and looking at the beachgoers with sneer on his ragged face.

Sgt. Roberts, who was leading from the front, addressed us all with a glance. "Let the civvies worry about themselves. We finally have some time off to ourselves and we're damn well going to be making the best out of it. That crystal, Marines?"

"Clear, sir."

"Aye, sir."

"Roger that, Sarge."

"Yessir."

"…Whatever, Sarge."

"Good," the Sergeant responded before a mischievous grin suddenly threatened to split his face. "Then last one to the bar scrubs the shitter with their toothbrush!" And before any of us got the chance to respond, he broke off into a full sprint down the road, narrowly but expertly dodging any civilian in his path. The rest of us were left their standing with our mouths open in utter confusion.

"Ah come _on_ , man! You barely gave us any fuckin' time to get ready!" Gorrey shouted in indignation before he, himself, started sprinting. The rest of us, shaken out of our stupor, closely gained on him from behind.

"Oh no you fucking _don't_!" Teague yelled in outrage as he sprinted slightly passed Gorrey and gave him a sideways snarl. "I am _not_ going to be losing to you _ever_ again! You hear me?! If anyone's going to scrub the fucking toilets it'll be you with your goddamn tongue! You better take a long hard look at my ass, Gorrey, 'cause you'll be kissing it after I smoke yours!" Teague, now high off of his mind on adrenaline, rushed ahead with Gorrey hot on his tail. Whales, Monroe, and I laughing our asses off as we keep up behind them.

* * *

"Mr. Newborn, do you mind explaining to us just what the _hell_ that thing is?"

As soon as Generals Tiberius and Krochevski passed through the double doors, they were both equally flabbergasted as to what they had set their sights on. Instead of the typical all-white field testing rooms they had been expecting, the two military leaders were shocked to find out that they had stumbled onto a metal balcony in what looked like the inside of a very large warehouse just about the length of a football field with grey walls that reached at least 25 feet in height. Within the large underground facility were dozens of machines being run by numerous people wearing lab coats who didn't even register the men's entrance; all of them too busy typing away or operating the various and quite expensive looking equipment. Though what was strange was that all of the machines were connected and placed into a wide, oval-shaped outline. That wasn't all, as located on the outside perimeter of the warehouse floor were dozens upon dozens of testing tables that all held various lab equipment such as, test tubes, vials, beakers, microscopes, Bunsen burners and the like; all were currently in use by other scientists who were also too focused on doing some unknown tests that they didn't even register the Generals' or Head Scientist's presence.

However it wasn't the presence of the other scientists or the various lab equipment that was the source of the Generals' shock, but what was instead located at the very center of the massive room.

Surrounded by the various machines was an even larger machine that was pale white, contrasting the warehouse's grey walls, and stood at a height of at least 20 feet, just a few feet shorter from touching the ceiling. Most of its entire frame was built at a wide circular angle that seemed to expand in each direction, arching at least 15 feet wide before rounding down and connecting to a flat platform that was dark grey in color and seemed to expand almost as much as the machine's large circular frame. At the bottom of the platform were numerous pitch black tubes -probably some kind of electrical wires from what Tiberius could tell- that connected to the platform and the machine's lower half before reaching out and connecting to the dozens of smaller machines that surrounded the much larger one. _Generators, perhaps?_ _Or maybe some kind of control consoles?_ Tiberius couldn't exactly tell, but whatever they were seemed to be keeping the strange mechanism powered up, as he could hear a faint humming noise emanating from its circular core that seemed to echo across the entire warehouse. However despite its massive size, the most bizarre thing about it was strangely not the machine itself, but the entire area inside its circular center.

Tiberius wasn't sure if his age was finally catching up to him or if what he was seeing was just the result of too much caffeine in the morning, but he could swear that the entire space inside the mechanized arch, more specifically the very air itself was _shimmering_ , like it was fazing in and out. It was as though he were looking through a giant kaleidoscope and all of the air within the circle was moving while the rest in the environment was still. Gazing at it long enough, he might have thought he was suffering from an actual LCD trip were it not for the fact that he had never touched a single drug in his entire life, besides the medical kind of course.

All in all, the only words the American General could use to describe the entire thing, in much vulgar terms, were _what in the absolute fuck._

However he and Krochevski were shaken out of their momentary stupor as the Uranian Head Scientist slowly turned towards them with a _very_ pleased grin on his face. He then proceeded to spread his arms out in both directions as he spoke to the military leaders with a voice of absolute pride and confidence, as if he had been well prepared for this exact moment for a long time to come. "This, _Gentlemen_ , is not only the dawn of a new age, but also the Ark to our species' survival. For too long, has the human race been out war with each other for what remaining table scraps they can keep for themselves. For too long, have the people of our beloved united military fought and bled for the sake of those who would take everything for themselves rather than sharing it with their fellow man. For too long, have we spent countless years searching the stars for any hope to our survival only to end up causing another bitter war amongst ourselves. It is because of our greed and self-indulgence that the human race is destined to die out, leaving nothing but the shreds of our diseased history in the body of the universe. If we continue down this destructive path, then I fear that the human race would not last more than another two decades at most. Resources are declining, energy sources besides nuclear energy are becoming scarce, and more people are dying then are being born, especially those within third-world countries. If we do not find a solution to these crises soon, then I fear that the human race will die a pointless death, forever leaving the universe behind with a single question; 'What could we have done?', rather than trying to find the solution to 'What _should_ we have done?'" All throughout his dramatic speech, Newborn's grin never left his face. "Fortunately for all of us, I have found that exact solution," he then pointed to the large, circular machine. "And it is right there in the center of this very room."

And finally without so much as a "by your leave", Newborn made his way onto a walkway that connected the balcony to the warehouse's walls which led to a staircase on its left wall. Giving each other another nervous glance, the Russian and the American Generals followed the scientist across the walkway and down the stairs where they proceed towards the outer circlet of machines that surrounded the much larger one. The other scientists, who were still busy running the much smaller devices, made way for the three men as they made their way towards the machine. Now with only just a couple of feet surrounding them from the strange mechanism, Tiberius and Krochevski were able to get a better look at the outer layer of the machine's arch. Hundreds, if not thousands of smaller wires surrounded the surface and even a few circuit boards and fiber optic cables could be seen within the small cracks of the machine's outer haul. From where they could see, Tiberius and Krochevski could see a faint light bluish glow coming from the machine's inside. There's also the fact that the faint humming noise they had been hearing was now considerably louder. Not loud enough to hurt their ears but loud enough to make it sound like they were standing next to an active generator, as if they could hear the actual electricity coursing through the entire machine. There was also a very slight _thumping_ noise emanating from the inside, almost like the machine had a heartbeat. This, along with the shimmering of the air inside its massive ring gave it an abnormal and eerie feeling to it.

To the Generals, it almost felt like the machine was _alive_ in a strange sort of way.

It was then that General Krochevski started to speak, looking back at Newborn with a stern glare, who seemed completely unaware as he was too busy staring at the machine with an calm and radiant expression, his grin still never wavering in the slightest. "I will repeat what Comrade Tiberius had stated earlier; just what in the hell is this…monstrosity, Head Scientist?"

Newborn gazed at the Russian from the corner of his eye, grin still plastered. "It is as I've said, General, this is the device that will save humanity from its self-destruction."

Tiberius was beginning to get fed up with the scientist, and from the looks of it, Krochevski might have been three seconds away from strangling the man. "Enough beating around the bush, Newborn. Just tell us what it is already." He said, his authoritative voice almost drowning out the machine's anomalous noises and making a few of nearby scientists take a step back in alarm.

The grin from Newborn's face still never wavered as he turned to address the two men. "Very well, Gentlemen. You see, ever since the creation of the Uranian-Interstellar Drive, I have always wondered if it would've been possible to do the _impossible_. I thought to myself, 'if we could find a way to traverse the stars by ripping holes into space and time, why not try and take it a step further?' What if, we could not only create passageways into other points of space and time, why not try and create passageways to other universes, or possibly even other _dimensions_? Think about it! Right now we live inside a plane of only three dimensions. What if we could try reaching a place where all concepts of the reality we know are nonexistent? What if we could try reaching a place that even the wildest of imaginations couldn't even possibly begin to comprehend? Or better yet, what if it where possibly to travel to alternate realities that are very similar to our own, if not identical? Our universe is said to be nearly infinite and is continuously growing by the second, but is had also been said that our universe is only one out of infinite other universes that are either very different or very similar to our own! Just think, what if we could open up a passageway to these other universes and realities. All of our problems could be solved with the simple push of a button!" Each and every word added a new layer of excitement to Newborn's speech, his grin threatened to split his face as his hands shot up into the air in pure excitement.

For a few minutes, the Generals simply stood rooted in their spots as they gave the scientist a blank stare. The other scientists besides them, tense from the awkward atmosphere, looked between the three men in silent confusion. Meanwhile Newborn put his hands down and simply waited for their response, his smile returning to a somewhat serine one as though he were very pleased with himself.

The awkward atmosphere soon ended when the Krochevski's expression morphed from a blank stare to one of pure outrage, almost as if he had been insulted by the Head Scientist's dramatic words.

"Are you completely out of your mind, Head Scientist Newborn?! First you talk of humanity's downfall as if it were Hell on Earth 2086, then you build this…this _thing_ and speak of it like it was the biblical Noah's Ark, and then you have the nerve to try to fill our heads with more of your fantasies and nonsense?! _**Mudak**_ **!** I should shoot you where you stand right now for having the nerve to try to sway me to your, how you say, _flights of fancy_!" The tone, as well as the volume in the Russian's voice was enough to make the surrounding scientists back up in fear. Tiberius, hoping to quickly regain control of the situation, tried calming the fellow General.

"General Krochevski! Stand down at once! I'm sure Mr. Newborn would be more than willing to explain himself if you just gave him the chance. Isn't that right, Newborn?" Tiberius sent a stern raised eyebrow towards the scientist, and was a little perturbed by the fact that he didn't show even the slightest bit of nervousness at the Russian's outburst. In fact he was still smiling with his hands now clasped behind his back, as though he had completely ignored the entire thing.

But then American General could see the slightest twinkle in the man's eyes, as if he were planning to do something he'd rather not see.

"Instead of explaining it to you, why don't I simply _show_ it to you, General Tiberius?" Before Tiberius could even respond, Newborn turned around and addressed a nearby scientist standing next to one of the smaller machines, a young man with short brunette hair who looked to be in his late twenties. "Mr. Hawkins, if you would be so kind as to initiate the activation sequence?"

The young man, Hawkins, although a little shaken up by the Russian General's outburst, gave Newborn an affirmative nod. "Right away, Mr. Newborn." He said before turning back towards the console and began pressing a series of buttons before reaching out and grasping the handle of a large, black switch. The console let out a large, deep moaning noise, signaling that it was now channeling energy towards the larger machine. "Initiating activation of machine in 5…4…3…2…"

"Newborn, just what the hell are you-"

"…1!"

And with the pull of a switch, the entire room went dark.

The screech of a thousand saws tore through the very air itself as Tiberius and Krochevski covered their ears and closed their eyes in agony as the sound pounded their eardrums with the intense force of a jackhammer. Through their eyelids they could see a single source of light that was rippling through the darkness of the entire warehouse. After a few more seconds, the unbearable noise finally died down and both Generals opened their eyes to a sight that made them drop their hands and jaws in complete shock and awe. Even the ringing in their now uncovered ears couldn't sway them from the sight they were now witnessing. The giant ring-shaped machine had been lit up with dozens of bright white lights that surrounded the outside of its main core and even some light was glaring through the cracks of metal all alongside its surface. The faint humming sound it had emitted was now something one would hear from a full grown whale, the full intensity of the sound seemed to shake the very walls and floors of the entire facility. The bright light that the twenty foot machine was giving off gave it the appearance of a giant halo right out of Heaven's Gate itself.

But for all its intensity, absolutely nothing on the outside could compare to what the Generals were seeing on the inside. For within the ring's field of view was what looked like a twenty foot shimmering mirror, only instead of seeing their own reflections, they saw what was without a doubt a forest. A forest which looked completely _identical_ to any that could be found on Earth.

A forest covered completely in the _purest_ and _whitest_ snow they had ever seen in a long time.

Tiberius and Krochevski were gobsmacked. They definitely weren't strangers to snow, but it had been a _hell_ of a long time since they had actually seen any in person. Because of the overwhelming use of fossil fuels, as well as the enormous amount of pollution in the air as well as greenhouse gasses, snow had become even less of a reoccurring each and every year around the world, even in some of its coldest places such as Antarctica, the Arctic Circle, and the majority of Russia had seen a dramatic downturn of fresh snow. It still snowed from time to time, but it was such a rarity that it might as well be as valuable as gold. The last time Tiberius had seen any snow in his life was when he was just a 10 year-old boy growing up in Colorado. He could remember all of the fun he and his younger brother and two sisters had as they made snow angels, snowmen, and waged snowball fights against each other. It had one of the happiest times in his life.

And to see the very reminder of his youth that he hadn't seen in over 30 years made him gap and clench his fist in astonishment.

Krochevski, however, was the one who was affected the most. His most beloved Motherland had once been the capital of snowfalls in the entire world. Most of his fellow countrymen despised its reoccurring presence but to him it was always a reminder that there was still life inside of a slowly dying planet. It reminded him of times where he could simply sit back and enjoy a peaceful life where he wouldn't have to constantly worry about war, poverty, or the Council breathing down his neck about which of his countrymen should receive this many resources. It reminded him of happier times, times he desperately wished he could escape to. In fact, the sight before him was such a strong reminder of that desire that he couldn't help but let a single tear trickle down his face.

But what literally gave the men the real shock of their life was the sudden gust of ice-cold wind that blew right into their face along with a few droplets of snow that instantly melted against their uniforms. Tiberius brought a hand up to his face and wiped the droplets of water off his face before staring at the now wet spots in his hand in even greater shock.

"I-Is this real?" he asked himself in a small voice before turning towards Krochevski, who had his eyes widened as he licked the water off his fingertips.

" _Bàtuyushki_...It's real, it's not illusion." The old Russian said quietly to himself. He continued to stare at his hand as though he had never seen it before. Tiberius was about to ask him if he was alright before the Russian General suddenly took off into a sprint…

…directly towards the center of the machine.

"KROCHEVSKI, WAIT!" Tiberius yelled at the top of his lungs before quickly running after the other General. Some of the other scientists attempted to stop him, but none of them were a match for the 40 year-old war veteran with years of training, who bulldozed his way through the crowd like they were plastic mannequins.

Tiberius didn't know what happened. One second he was chasing his fellow General through an underground lab, then the next thing he knew the temperature around the entire warehouse suddenly dropped faster than a wrecking ball underwater. He then realized that he wasn't even _in_ the large warehouse anymore, but instead in the middle of a large, snow-covered forest along with Krochevski, who was standing still just a few feet away from him under a large tree.

Tiberius would have been stunned to say the least, if it wasn't for the smoldering anger that soon erupted inside of him as he stomped his towards the other General, completely ignoring the fact that the snow reached his ankles.

"General Krochevski! Are you completely out of your _**goddamned**_ mind?!" he roughly grabbed the Russian by the shoulder before forcibly spinning him around. "Just what the fuck were you think-"

Tiberius' words died in his throat as he stared at Krochevski's expression, which was one of pure open-mouthed shock as even more tears trailed down his eyes. Tiberius was honestly shocked himself. He had known Krochevski for a long time and he had never _once_ seen him this emotional. Not even when he had witnessed thousands of his own men, whom he had always treated like his own sons, dying in front of him during the Water Wars.

"It's real…" the words came out as a faint whisper, yet Tiberius had heard him perfectly.

"General?" he asked a little hesitantly as he carefully unhanded the man's shoulders as though the smallest move would bring him tumbling down.

"It's real…" the Russian repeated again, this time in a more audible voice. "It's all real. It's not an illusion. Everything here is real."

Tiberius finally realized where he and the other General where and took notice of his surroundings, and was soon put back into a stupor. Indeed, everything around them was as real as it could get. The cold air that was blowing against his frame, the grey clouds above that continued to pepper the land with more snow, and the trees that stood tall and rigid as far as the eye could see completely covered in a blanket of snow. Still in his moment of shock, Tiberius made his way towards a nearby tree and hesitantly placed his hand on its surface. The brown bark was rough and cold to the touch just like any other wild tree he would normally see. He pulled his hand back and was even more surprised to see the tip of his thumb covered in tree sap. At least it was sticky and looked like any old tree sap. He bent down and wiped his thumb into the snow, just as cold and wet as he remembered it. For a moment he was 10 again and hiding behind a small boulder as his younger siblings pelted it with snowballs. He straightened up and looked towards Krochevski, who was hitting the snow off of another tree's branch. Though the unbelieving expression was still on his face, as though he couldn't actually believe what he was touching.

"Astonishing, yet at the same time simply beautiful. Wouldn't you agree, General?"

Tiberius whirled around and saw Newborn just a few feet away holding out his hand and simply watching as the snowflakes melted after coming into contact with his skin. Despite the fact that he was dressed in a simple lab coat and long sleeved shirt underneath, he didn't at all look the least bit fazed by the cold temperature.

However it wasn't the scientist's sudden appearance that got hold of Tiberius' immediate attention, but instead the circular and nearly twenty foot tall rip in thin air that was just a few feet behind him which depicted the inside of the warehouse that he and Krochevski had been in just moments before. He could also see the dozens of other scientists staring at them through the passageway with various expressions of shock and disbelief. Tiberius even managed to catch a few of them taking notes as they continued to observe the three men from the other side of the tear.

Tiberius stared at them for a few moments longer before a sigh escaped his lips. He then turned his attention towards Newborn and gave him a strong glare. "Alright, Cameron Newborn, just what the hell is all of this?" he asked as he aggressively gestured towards their surroundings.

Newborn ignored the General's tone and stared back at him in the eyes, this time with a glare that matched Tiberius' own. "As I have stated numerous times before, General, this is the dawn of a new age. All of this…" like Tiberius, he gestured towards his surroundings. "…is what's going to save humanity from tearing itself apart. I'm a man of my word, Tiberius. I don't create just for the sake of fame or glory. I create because I not only want humanity to thrive and survive, I want it to _surpass_ its own limits. By using the Uranian-Interstellar Drive along with a few of my own personal improvements, I was able to surpass those limits by creating something no one ever thought would be possible." He then gestured back towards the portal. "With this machine, we have transcended every kind of travel by a milestone. Not only in theory but in reality. I've said it once and I'll say it again; no longer will we have to waste precious time and resources looking for a new home amongst the stars, when we can simply look right here at the mere press of a button." Another grin suddenly formed on his face, though this one was more feral than the last. "And what better way to start than right here, right now? An entire world, plus billions, perhaps even trillions more just ripe for the picking! And this one is only the first of many! A new life! A new start! A new Eden just waiting to be explored! All through the use of the _Newborn Trans-Dimensional Entanglement Device_!"

Tiberius stared at the man as though he had grown a second head. The way Newborn spoke made him sound like some kind of mad scientist or dictator preaching about a New World Order. But no matter how crazy or how insane the man was, it was reluctantly true that he had figured out how to make something that sounded so damn impossible to something that was actually real. With this so-called _Trans-Dimensional Entanglement Device_ , literally anything was possible for the entire human race. What was the point of searching through an endless void when they literally had the _entire goddamn multiverse_ at the end of their fingertips? Once the media found out about this, the backlash would be _catastrophic_.

Now he had to find out a way to report this to the President without sounding like a fucking lunatic.

Tiberius groaned and put his head into his hands.

He really wished he had some alcohol right now.

* * *

You know, there are time in my life where I really wish I could just disappear from the world. Not because I hated my life or anything, but because of how ridiculous the world seemed to get at times that it just makes you want to disappear for a while.

And right now just so happened to be one of those times.

"So let me get this straight," I said as massaged the bridge of my nose with my fingers. Did I mention how I sometimes got headaches from these types of situations? "Command is sending us on an Op. that's completely classified. As in 'Don't talk, don't tell under the risk of getting executed by firing squad' type of classified?"

"Sounds like it, bro." Miles gave me an amused smirk as he, along with the rest of the squad and myself, got readied up in our gear.

Just as we were about to live it up on a night out in the town, our squad had suddenly got recalled back to base. The specifics on the reason, however, weren't given. All we were told was to return to the base ASAP and ready up our gear inside the barracks. Roberts, Monroe, and Gorrey weren't particularly happy with the current arrangements, mostly because they never even got to engage in their drinking contest. Whales didn't really care either way, simply shrugging before saying "Just another one of those days." Teage, while annoyed with the fact that he couldn't kick Gorrey's ass in a drinking game, actually seemed a little eager to be getting back to base. _Probably wanting to vent out more anger on some sorry bastard_ , I thought. I, on the other hand, was pissed off that my vacation was cut short but at the same time curious as to why we were called back so suddenly. I tried asking Sergeant Roberts about the situation, only to tell me the details were "highly classified and weren't to be shared with anyone", which only confused me even more.

So now we were here inside of the base's barrack getting outfitted into our gear and ready for whatever was about to be thrown at us. And the term "ready" was always an understatement when preparing for classified Ops. As it meant that only the best and brightest gear would be suitable for the task.

Hence why we were currently outfitting ourselves into what was quite possibly the most advanced suit or armor a Coalition Marine could get his hands on.

The Uranian Combat Exoskeleton was a literal godsend to ground troops during the 2060's. For one thing, it was basically a multi-layered skin. The first layer acted as a shield of highly damage absorbable armor made entirely out of energy-infused Titanium-A grade metal that offered plenty of resistance against any standard issue ballistic and kinetic rounds as well as a great deal against energized rounds and could even withstand the heat of some laser weaponry. The second layer was basically a skin tight bodysuit infused with boron carbide that pretty much acted as a radiation suit that was able to protect its wearer from high levels of radiation and other harmful chemicals in the environment while also offering protection against burning or freezing temperatures, making it the perfect outfit for any and all Desert or Arctic Warfare. The bodysuit, as well as the outer layer of armor, were also infused with millions of energized Nanobots that were able to alter their density and act as another layer of shock absorption, giving the wearer extra protection from projectiles as well as fall damage. Any soldier wearing the armor could fall from heights of over 30 feet and would suffer from sprained limbs at most.

Another totally badass thing about the armor was its built-in Active Camouflage system. The Nanobots could not only use their stored energy to act as a double layer of armor, but could also use it to literally _bend_ the light rays around the suit's wearer, completely blending them into their surroundings kind of like a chameleon did with its skin. And because of the miniature rechargeable nuclear Fusion Core that was built into the back of our armor, we could literally stay completely blended for days on end without draining even a fourth of our armor's power supply. And, while the Active Camouflage system was at the very peak of stealth based warfare, it still didn't make the user completely invisible, but instead made them look like a moving distortion of air if you were able to look hard enough. We may not have been invisible but we sure as hell weren't easy to see either.

The last thing was the Exoskeleton's face and head protection, which were also built in and could mechanically assemble and disassemble themselves at the wearer's will whenever they were inside or outside of combat. When assembled, the helmet took the form of the old German head ware design from World War 1 without the small spike on the top center of the head. The helmet was made of the same Titanium-A as the rest of the armor, so getting shot in the head by a standard bullet would feel like a small punch rather than a full-on bruising impact. The face ware was a curved and flexible soft sheet of the same metal that circled around the lower half of our heads and gave us protection from where the helmet couldn't. And to top it off, two circular lenses covered our eyes that offered the wearer built-in Thermal and Night Vision along with a motion tracker that gave us a wide range of 25 meters in all directions.

All in all, the armor was the very pinnacle of every kind of environmental warfare. And my squad were lucky enough to be some of the Coalition's first Marines to have the pleasure of wearing it. Only downside was that it cost more than my car and was a pain in the ass for the techies at the Uranian Corporation to replace whenever some unlucky bastard got theirs too badly damaged.

As I slipped into the last bits of my armor, I took a moment to glance at the rest of my squad mates. Whales was busy polishing the last bit of her prized sniper rifle, which so happened to be the SJR116 Anti-Material Rifle, or "Satan's Bite" as she so fondly called it. The reason being because every time she shot someone with it, they always ended up losing a few pieces. As scary as it was, I can't remember how many times that thing had saved all of our asses on almost every Op we went on. No wonder a few of the other Marines had taken to nicknaming her the "Slaughter Whale". Monroe, who had already suited up before the rest of us, was busy tinkering with a couple of his Radiation Grenades, which were an actual invention of his from a previous Op that basically sprayed anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the explosion with about a liter full on radiated chemicals, which he personally dubbed as the "Hell Gas Grenades". He was also conversing with Gorrey, who was sitting to his right, about which of his explosives could kill a man the slowest. Seriously, Monroe might have been quiet but he was a real lunatic when he wanted to be. As for Sergeant Roberts, he was busy typing away on his personal Holopad, a sad grin finding its way onto his goateed face as he read whatever was sent back to him.

 _Probably from his daughter_. I thought to myself. The Sarge had told us a lot of stories about his daughter, Candice. How she was always the top of her class and was planning on majoring in Bioengineering. You couldn't have found a more proud smile on any other father's face.

Teage on the other hand was situated the furthest away from the rest of the squad. For once he was completely silent, not even bothering to issue an insult at Gorrey as he loaded the last of his rounds into his rifle's magazines before storing them inside the various cartridge holders on his armor. If he was known as a Tiger because of his brutality than he was definitely a Demon when inside his armor. His already imposing figure was only enhanced by the black and bulky armor that he and the rest of us wore and seemed to give him an air of predator ready to pounce on anything at a moment's notice. His face was scrunched up into a sneer as he loaded the last clip into his rifle and pulled back the handle, inserting the first bullet into the chamber. Even from my angle, I could faintly make out the jagged line that was etched into his skin, reaching from the top of his eyebrow, across his eye and down to his jaw. The scar had been from a nasty cut he received during one of the Coalition's campaigns on Mars. It was just a few days after his sister was killed. He was still pissed off enough that he hadn't even registered the pain until he got the stitches a couple hours later. His dark shaggy hair, the long scar, plus that leering face just screamed, "Don't fuck with me or I'll rip your goddamned head off before you can even blink."

Yep. Definitely not touching that with a ten foot pole.

As I got dressed into the last of my armor, a sudden rhythm of metallic _clanging_ noises behind me echoed off the walls of the barracks. Before I even had a chance to turn around, a voice that was definitely _not_ human made itself known.

" _Automated Pacification Unit – Designation: Nine Oh Four – Online. Fully operational and ready to assist Squadron – Designation 'Slaughter-Boy Squadron' – with Tier 1 classified operation assigned by Coalition Military Command."_

I knew that monotone synthetic voice anywhere. My face immediately morphed into a grin that threatened to split my face in half as I whirled around to greet the last member of our squad. " _Holy_ _shit_ , Nine Oh Four! Good to see you again you metallic sunovabitch! How the fuck have ya been?!" I went up and held out my hand towards the "Monster of Steel" as I personally liked to call him.

And like always, he gave me hand a quick lookover as if he was internally analyzing it before his noticeably larger metallic limb engulfed mine. My grin never once left my face. Good ole' Nine Oh Four was back in his little fucked up family.

" _Coalition Military Personnel – David Montgomery Cormac – Designation: Corporal – Squadron Designation: Corpse."_ I felt Nine Oh Four's body go rigid for a split second before his hand finally shook mine. _"It is good to see you as well, Corporal Cormac. This unit has been in put into mandatory repair stasis and has currently awaited new orders to since the Coalition's war against hostile Oasis Alliance on the moon of Phobos. Coalition Command is pleased to announce that this unit's internal and external systems have been restored to 100% capacity and is now ready to await further Field Operations."_ He let go of my hand before his lenses fell back on the rest of my squad. _"It is good to see you all as well, Slaughter-Boy Squadron."_

"'Bout fucking time you showed up, tin can." Teage didn't even bother looking up, still fixated with his rifle while the rest of the squad got their meets-and-greets out of the way. Gorrey and Monroe both gave Nine Oh Four a pat on his metal shoulders, whooping in joy as they finally got to reunite with the squad's resident "ass-kicker" as Gorrey put it. Whales had given the Pacification Unit a handshake of her own while the Sarge gave him a firm military salute with Nine Oh Four imitating the action almost immediately.

All the while I couldn't stop myself from grinning. Like Gorrey had said, Slaughter Boy had their resident ass-kicker back in action.

Like the motherfucking Valkyries of Valhalla, the Automated Pacification Units were legends among the Coalition Military. If the Marines the organs to the Coalition's proverbial body, then these metal monstrosities were the bones that held it together. Built not from the Uranian Research Division but instead from the Coalition as a whole, they were very first to reach the peak of military hardware. They were self-aware and automated combat drones designed specifically for providing additional ground support and heavy infantry for any type of ground based operations. These guys were pretty much built for any and all heavy issued weapons and warfare operations and were the bulk of every type of support imaginable. They were made from the same alloy as the Exoskeleton armor and had their own Active Camouflage built into their systems along with its Motion Trackers and Vision Enhancement systems. Not only that, they were also capable of running up to speeds over 50 miles per hour, jumping to heights of up to 15 feet, and even capable of lifting anything as heavy as a car. All the components of a major badass built into a slim yet noticeably bulky metallic body. The lenses he used for eyes were the typical green, standard color for all Pacification Units. However it was his mouth, which had been built as a row of shark-like teeth closed into an open smile that had really given him the demonic looking image. The design idea had surprisingly come from Teage. When the Sarge had nagged him on how he came up with such a stupid idea, he shrugged as if it weren't a big deal and responded with, and I quote: "If we're gonna be killing shit with a tin can, might as well make it look like a tin can out for blood. Plus I just really wanna see those Alliance cocksuckers shit themselves scared when they see a robot sprinting towards them with a shit-eating grin on its face."

Though our little reunion didn't last long as someone else came through the nearby barrack doors. Some slim guy with a shaved head wearing a suit that was probably blacker than our armor along with a pair of sunglasses. Though the guy was skinny and a couple inches shorter to our enhanced sizes in our armor, my years of training immediately told me that this guy was trouble. And I knew that all too well just by looking at him. I had seen plenty of his type before during the Water Wars.

 _Central Coalition Intelligence Bureau_

These shady motherfuckers were basically the Grim Reaper's living incarnates. They were responsible for all of the "disappearances" of any and all important figures who they deemed a threat to the Coalition's values. From Black Operations, Assassinations, Sabotage, spreading Propaganda, basically anything military that wasn't supposed to exist or to be done from the shadows. These guys were literally bred to kill. Unlike guys like Teage, who killed out of anger or eagerness, these guys killed simply because it was their job. No emotion. No questions asked. Just a simple pull of the trigger and the target in front of barrel. If I didn't know any better I would've assumed that they were some sort of disguised Pacifications units built with skin. There's no human being I know that would follow orders down to the letter without question like some kind of mindless drone.

The guy, whatever his name was, adjusted his glasses before speaking. "I apologize for interrupting your meeting so shortly," There wasn't a single apologetic tone in his voice. "But I'm afraid that we have more pressing matter to attend to. If you would all be so kind as to follow me, we will get you briefed on your assignment as soon as possible." And with that said, the empty shell of a man disappeared down the hall as quickly as he came. Even in my armor I felt a shiver go up my spine.

Fucking Spooks. Not even once.

"Better get at it before the fucking _Phantom Menace_ comes back." I looked and saw Teage pass me buy with his rifle magnetically attached to his back, already walking down the hall the Spook had disappeared into. I shrugged as followed along with the rest of my squad.

Yep, just another day in the office for Slaughter-Boy Squad.

Remember when I said there were times where I wanted to disappear from the world? Now was one of those even rarer times where I just plain wanted to put a bullet through my head due to the sheer and utter _ridiculousness_ the world (along with everything outside of it) had to offer.

Because right now I could've sworn to God Himself that the General of the New American Military had just asked us to provide reconnaissance detail through a portal, which had been personally built by the head of the Uranian Technology and Research Corporation himself, which apparently leads to a _godforsaken_ _**alternate universe**_. An alternate universe that was filled with goddamn _**snow**_ of all things, which just so happens to be staring us in the face through thin air inside the outer ring of some giant-as-hell machine located within the very bowels of the Uranian Corporation. If you had told me I was going to be doing something like this, I would've sucker punched you straight in the face and assumed you were drunk. Hell, fucking Teage would've probably broken every single one of your limbs on the spot before shooting you in the head and going back to drinking like he never even heard you in the first place.

But no, unfortunately all of this had been very real and my squad just so happened to be selected as the very first military force to travel between different dimensions.

Normal life, where in the ever-living- _ **fuck**_ did you go?

"As you can clearly see in front of you," the American General gestured towards the portal in thin air, almost as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "This machine is capable of opening doorways through different realities. Thanks to the Uranian Head Scientist, Cameron Newborn, we now have a golden opportunity, no, a _once in a lifetime_ opportunity to explore the outer machinations of reality itself. Beyond this portal lies infinite possibilities of which mankind has never been able to access in all its history of existence. Until _now_ that is. As I'm sure you're already aware, our planet's resources are on a steady rate of decline due to the overgrowing population. And right in front of you, men and women of the 7th Marine Coalition Division, is a fresh planet just ripe for the picking. From here on out your mission is simple. You will provide reconnaissance of the entire area within a mile radius. HORNET Drones will be deployed for aerial recon along with additional squads from the 5th and 6th Divisions to provide as backup support. In addition to providing recon around the area, you will secure an excavation zone around the portal's perimeter so that excavation crews and Newborn's research team can be safely deployed in the future." The General took a moment to scan through the numerous squads of soldiers before raising his voice. "Remember! This is an entirely new planet that is completely unknown to us! We know next nothing about it except for the fact that it has suitable oxygen for humans and plant life! However! That does not mean that plants are the _only_ source of life! For all we know this place could be inhabited by a bunch of giant man-eating unicorns with the head of a bull and the ass of a turtle!"

Despite the unbelievable situation we were in along with the tense atmosphere, most of us managed to crack a laugh at the General's joke. Though after remembering just what it was we were about to get thrown into the laughing soon died down as soon as it came.

Because the General was right. We had no _**fucking**_ idea what we would find out there.

"Marines!" All of us snapped to attention. "Your country is counting on you! Not only that, the future of your entire _**planet**_ is counting on you! You all have family and friends who are depending on you! Do _**not**_ let them down! _Am I understood?!_ "

" _ **Oorah!"**_

" _Where do we run?!"_

" _ **Towards the gaping mouth of Hell itself!"**_

" _Who do we fight?!"_

" _ **The Tyrant! The Dictator! The Enemies of Freedom!"**_

" _AND WHAT DO WE FIGHT FOR?!"_

" _ **FOR GOD! FOR COUNTRY! FOR THE CORPS!"**_

" _SEMPER FI!"_

" _ **DO OR DIE!"**_

"7th Division, _MOVE OUT!"_

And with a hail of _'YESSIR'_ , our squad was the first to spring into a full spring towards the unknown. Within the span of three seconds, the entire atmosphere shifted to white as we were completely surrounded within a frozen forest. Our combat instincts kicking in, my squad immediately got into position about ten feet away from the portal, on our knees with our rifles held at eye level as the three other squads came through and did the same, their rifles pointed in different directions in front and behind. I then took a quick look at my HUD's motion tracker, so far nothing except for the dozens of green blips that appeared within the 25 meter radius, signaling them as friendlies. Any hostile movement would be marked as red while unknowns were marked in yellow.

It amazed me just how calm I was despite the fact that I was apparently in a different dimension, which was still a weird concept to me considering the fact that this place didn't look any different from Earth back when pollution didn't poison almost the entire atmosphere. It had been so long since I had seen any snow that I almost forgot what it looked like. If it weren't for the fact that we were in the middle of an operation I might've thrown a snowball at the back of Teage's head just for the fuck of it. If I didn't know that he would've immediately shot me afterwards.

" _Polar-Actual to Slaughter-Actual come in, over."_ I heard the voice of one of the nearby squads through my HUD.

Hearing his Callsign, Sgt. Roberts immediately responded. _"Slaughter-Actual to Polar-Actual, we read you. There a problem? Over."_

" _Negative, Slaughter-Actual. Be advised, HORNET's aren't currently picking up any unknowns. Gonna try to widen the range a bit. Polar and Killjoy squads are gonna try searching the Southern and Eastern regions near the back of the portal. Have your squad recon the Western region while Venom squad recons the North. Extend search patterns up to one klick before regrouping near the portal in 60 mikes. How copy, over?"_

" _Slaughter copies all, over."_

" _Roger that, Slaughter-Actual. Good hunting. Try to keep your ass in the grass, will ya?"_

" _Only if you kiss it, Polar-Actual. Over and out."_

I shook my head and smirked behind my mask. They did know that everyone could hear them, right?

"Alright, asshats, keep a tight formation. Three meter spread, eyes all around. We might be alone out hear but I don't want any surprises. You see something, do _**not**_ engage. Only use lethal force if there's no other alternative, Ooah?"

" _Ooah."_

"Alright then. Activate stealth and let's get this fuckin' show on the road."

With a push of a button on our armors wrist modules, our entire bodies became one with the environment's surroundings, making us disappear completely from view. We then picked ourselves up and moved at a slow but swift pace towards the eastern part of the forest, the rest of the squads doing the same while going their separate ways. Our rifles carefully swept every possible direction while keeping our feet on the move. Even with all of the armor we were wearing, we still barely managed to make a sound besides the snow quietly crunching beneath or feet. The only sign that we were there were the footprints we left behind, though due to the amount of snow that was falling, they were likely to be covered up in a short while. Thankfully each of us had placed a tracking beacon on the portal's location on our HUDs just before we left.

I still couldn't believe that we were in a different reality. It really didn't look that much different from our Earth. Was it possible that we had landed in a reality where no humans inhabited the Earth? Or maybe a planet that had distinctive features resembling Earth? Wherever we were, I was at least thankful that I was given the opportunity to see real live snow again. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had seen it in person much less actually touch it. It almost felt as though we had gone back in time rather to alternate Earth. In fact, this entire situation almost seemed poetic in a sort of way or maybe just a bad plot for some movie or book. Now that I think about it, I'm almost glad that I didn't try to skip out of this operation when we were first briefed on it. As batshit crazy as it sounded, we couldn't deny that what was happening to us was very real. Either that or it was one hell of a bad acid trip. And in some part of my mind I'm hoping that it is. At least then it'll be easier to explain to the folks back home. We partied too hard, had a few to many to drink and woke up the next morning with needles in our arms and naked in each other's beds. Another drunken story that would've been better off forgotten.

But no. Instead we were selected as some of the first few people to cross literal dimensions, pointing our guns at anything that might want to kill us.

Sometimes I _really_ wished I just stayed in bed.

* * *

 **Personal ID: Pvt. Miles "Manslaughter" Monroe**

Monroe had decided to do a quick solo recon from his squad, informing the Sarge that they'd be able to cover more ground if they split off. Roberts had flat out refused at first, stating that the squads were required to stay together so that no one would get lost and left behind in uncharted territory, though Miles had rebutted, stating that each of them had placed a beacon back at the portal's location in the event that any squad should lose their bearings. He had also stated that he was simply going to do a quick recon towards the nearby hills and that he would be gone for no more than ten mikes. Roberts was reluctant, but eventually agreed on the promise that Monroe would be gone ten mikes and ten mikes _only_ and not a second longer. After that he was to regroup with them immediately and as quickly as possible. Monroe had thanked the Sarge before heading off towards the snow covered hill, thankful that he was finally able to get some time to himself. It wasn't that he disliked being around his squad but he always saw himself working more efficiently as a lone wolf. He never really had many friends growing up so he was used to being by himself on more than one occasion.

As he swiftly and silently made his way up the hill, he couldn't help but contemplate the current situation he was in. Not only a whole other world but an entire different dimension as well? Shit like this was only supposed to be possible in movies and video games, yet here he was on some _hopefully_ deserted planet filled to the brim with snow. The more he thought about it, the more it only seemed to make his head heart. Sometimes things weren't just meant to be questioned, no matter how fucked up they may seem.

Finally arriving at the top of the hill and settling behind a nearby tree, Monroe did a quick sweep of the area with his rifle before staring down at his motion tracker. No blips were appearing within 25 meters. With the area deduced as safe for the time being, Miles deactivated his camouflage system before his helmet automatically retracted back into his suit. He closed his eyes, inhaled and began to relax as the otherworldly oxygen filled his lungs before exhaling back out. For a different planet in a completely different dimension, the air sure felt like Earth's, if not even cleaner. No waste, no pollution, just pure, fresh, untainted air.

 _Snap!_

Miles' eyes shot wide open. "Shit!" he silently cursed as his helmet materialized itself back onto his head before he got down on his stomach and reactivated his active camouflage. He took a quick look at his motion tracker and noticed that there was a single yellow dot about 20 meters away from his position. An unknown. That meant whatever was near him was either an animal or something else entirely. Miles prayed for the former.

 _17 meters._

Whatever it was was slowly coming towards his position. Miles didn't hesitate and began hastily contacting his squad all while trying to stay out of sight.

" _Slaughter-4 to Slaughter-Actual come in, over!"_

" _Slaughter-Actual here. Go ahead, kid."_

 _14 meters._

" _Sarge, I've got movement about 14 meters from my current position and closing. Contact is shown as yellow on the motion tracker. Could be a large animal of some kind, I don't know. There's too much foliage up ahead for me to see."_

" _Shit, copy that, Monroe. Stay outta sight and try to get eyes on whatever the fuck it is. We're swinging around now and heading towards your position. Do not fire unless actively threatened, copy?"_

 _12 meters._

" _Copy that, Sarge. I'll try to fall back if it gets too close. Slaughter-4 out."_

" _Roger that, Slaughter-4. Next time listen to goddamn orders."_

 _10 meters._

' _Here we go.'_ Monroe thought as he got up on one knew while still doing his best to stay behind the tree. Even though he had his camo activated, he still wanted to remain as unseen as possible. Now wasn't the time to actively engage in enemy targets. With a quick breath and a pullback of his rifle, Monroe slowly peered his camouflaged head around the trunk of the tree to try to get a sighting on whatever the hell was on top of him. However due to the think foliage of tree and the darkness of the night sky, he couldn't get a clear view on what was in front of him, though he could faintly hear the crunching of snow just a few meter ahead.

 _10 meters._

Monroe frowned. Whatever it was had held its position behind the thick foliage. Using his HUD, he quickly activated his night vision to try to get a clearer view in the surrounding darkness. With it active, he could now faintly see a small shape moving back and forth between the numerous trees that were grouped up together. Though it was still well hidden even with his night vision active.

' _Come on Sarge, where the fuck are you guys?'_ he thought it himself before retracting his head back around the tree's trunk. He took a deep breath before quickly steeling himself. _'Whatever the fuck it, doesn't look like it wants to come out. Fuck it. I'm tired of this cat and mouse shit. If it won't move then I will. Sorry Sarge. Gonna have to disobey orders again._ With that final thought in mind, Monroe shouldered the butt of his rifle and was about to walk into the open until multiple snaps of twigs and a sudden _'thumping'_ sound made him freeze in place, followed by what sounded like a very light groaning sound.

Though why did it sound like it came from a human?

 _7 meters._

That was the last straw for Monroe. With a pounding heart and nimble feet, his instincts took over as he swiftly rolled out of cover, deactivating his camouflage while kneeling down and snapping the end of his rifle towards whatever it was that made the sound, fully prepared to end its life if need be.

Though what Private Miles Monroe saw in front of him made him freeze absolutely still in place, and were he not wearing his mask, his jaw would have dropped open in shock while his eyes would have popped out of their sockets. His finger on the trigger completely forgotten.

For in front of his very eyes, lying little more than a foot away from him in the freezing snow was a little girl. A complete and honest to God _human girl_ who looked no older than six or seven years old dressed in what looked like a thin, sea green hospital scrub only managing to cover her torso and reached about halfway down her legs and arms. However, besides the fact that she was a human in a different dimension, her choice of clothing wasn't the strangest part.

No, perhaps the strangest part about her was the fact that her hair was dark purple, almost violet. And not dyed purple like Monroe would see back on Earth, but actual _genuine_ purple hair, as if she had been born with it. Hell, it looked so natural that it actually managed to shine a bit despite the fact that it was dark out. From what Miles could see, it was also set into a small bob cut that reached about an inch lower than her jaw line.

Despite the situation he was in, he couldn't help but think it was actually kind of pretty to look at. Given the opportunity, he would have given it a closer look…

…were it not for the fact that the girl was currently staring at him with eyes filled with tears. Eyes that held the same color as her hair.

"P-Please…h-help me."

Miles was put out into another stupor as the human girl spoke. By God she even _sounded_ like a normal human. It was soft, delicate, and innocent. Perfectly fitting for a girl her age. However he soon realized that the girl had not only called for help but was also lying in the freezing snow in nothing but a thin scrub. He also took notice of the small and delicate hand that was stretched out towards him while also shaking from the freezing cold.

"P-Please…s-save me. I'm s-so c-cold. P-Please…" the girl, not caring in the least that he was a complete stranger covered head to toe in bulky armor and was easily ten times her height continued to reach out for him, hoping that he'd be able to save her and keep her warm.

Miles, however, didn't make a single move to help her despite her obvious please. In all honestly he had no idea just what the hell he _should_ do. He had disregarded orders and thrown them all out the proverbial window by not only going out on his own but also blatantly exposing himself to a native inhabitant. Which just so happened to be a _human_ of all things.

 _Just what the fuck was he supposed to do?_

He knew he should he get out of sight as soon as possible, yet there was no way in hell he was just going to abandon an innocent little girl to die of hypothermia, especially since she was pleading to him for help. And he sure as _**shit**_ wasn't going to shoot her since she didn't pose a threat to him in any way, shape, or form. From what he could tell she was just a harmless girl who needed help.

But this was _beyond_ just some little girl. This was First Contact. A meeting between two worlds that were so far apart yet so similar in every way. If this girl had been some kind of alien, then maybe it would've been easier to deal with, but no. This girl was 100% _human_. Out of all the dimensions and universes they could've stumbled upon, it just _had_ to be the one with other humans on it.

' _Fuck my life.'_ Monroe thought to himself as he lowered his rifle before slinging it over his shoulder and attaching it to his back. The cat was already out of the bag. He had already disobeyed two orders, not like it could get any worse if he disobeyed a third time. A least he'd be sent to the firing squad knowing he at least tried to help the girl.

So it was with great reluctance that Monroe finally mustered up the courage to slowly move towards the prone girl, who continue to stare at him with teary eyes with her hand still outstretched towards him. Monroe had to give the girl credit. For someone who was easily as small as a puppy compared to him, his massive and bulky frame didn't seem to startle her in the least. He slowly kneeled down next to her prone form before gently taking her small and delicate hand into his own, being extra careful not to squeeze too hard due to the armor. He then took his other arm and gently brought it around the girl's delicate body before slowly lifting her up and bringing her small frame towards his chest. With her in his arms, he then proceed to shift his back towards the icy winds before gently wrapping her up in a pseudo bear hug in an attempt to keep her warm.

This action only seemed to bring more tears to the girl's eyes, relief flooded in her chest as she curled up into a ball and rested her small head against the armored giant's chest. She had been running in this icy wasteland for three days and not once could had she gotten any food or rest. She was only thankful that the snow didn't seem to affect her in the slightest for some reason. Though the icy winds, which felt like knives against her skin along with hunger thirst had almost taken a toll on her. She was only thankful that this armored giant had been here to save her. She didn't care if he was a stranger or wasn't even human, all she knew was that she needed help.

So it was with immense relief that she made herself as warm as possible inside the giant's gentle hold while muttering a soft 'Thank you' for his kindness.

"You're welcome."

Her eyes widened as her tiny head soon snapped up to look at the giant's face, only she was even more shocked when the his face seemingly somehow _broke apart_ and literally _sunk_ into his body. However it was what replaced with the giant's face that caused the girl to widen her tear stained eyes. A pale face, cropped blonde hair, and green eyes that stared down at her with the warmest expression she had ever seen on a person besides her own mother. A gentle smile was also found on his face as he gazed into her purple eyes with his own.

"Don't you worry, kid. I got ya. Nothing will hurt ya as long as I'm around."

Her eyes only widened further as the _man's_ mouth formed into a small grin. Her mouth was open in shock. Here she was, thinking she had been rescued by some metal giant or golem when it had been a _human_ all along. She had never seen a single living soul besides small animals when she had been running, and this man was the first person she could find. Believing this to be nothing more than an illusion by her extreme hunger, she lifted her hand and gently laid it against the man's shaven cheek, which only seemed to prompt his smile to widen slightly as he spoke again.

"My name's Miles. Miles Monroe. What's _your_ name, sweetie?"

She stared at him with wide eyes for a few more seconds before answering.

Miles had heard her, however he wasn't able reply before movement from behind him caught his attention. Slightly tightening his hold on the girl, being careful not to squeeze her, he whirled around and was about to pull out his sidearm until the other hulking forms of his squad.

Who were also currently out of their camouflage and were all promptly staring at him through their helmet lenses in complete silence with their rifles raised. Monroe could practically _feel_ the glare being directed at him by Sgt. Roberts through his helmet.

"Kid, what in the _goddamn_ _ **almighty fuck**_ do you think you're doing?" Robert's growl was so low through his helmet's speakers that Miles mistook him for Teage for a second.

"N-Now sir, I know how this looks but trust me, we've got one _hell_ of a situation right now-"

"You're _**fucking right**_ we have a situation. Not only did you disengage stealth for the entire _goddamn_ world to see, dematerialized your helmet, exposing you to any and all possible threats, you went out of your way to disobey orders _**again**_ by making yourself known to the locals of this fucking planet. Case in point _**right there**_ inside of your fucking arms." He gestured towards the small girl still wrapped in Monroe's arms, quietly gapping at the sudden appearance of more armored giants.

"Sir, with all due respect, _please watch your language._ I've already established that she can understand our language and I'd rather not have a kid as young as her develop your sailor talk." He quickly spoke up again before Roberts could rebuttal. "And second of all, sir, _what the hell was I supposed to do?_ She was injured and lying in the freezing snow in nothing but a thin scrub, and with however long she's been out here I'm honestly amazed she hasn't contracted frostbite or even died of hypothermia yet. And I _definitely_ wasn't going to shoot her or just leave her to die. Look at her! She's just a kid who doesn't look any older than six!" to emphasize his point, Monroe stepped closer to his squad and gave them a closer look at the girl, who suddenly felt even smaller within the large circle of giants staring at her and hid her face inside of Monroe's chest.

"Kid, I swear to _Christ_ when we get back-"

Robert's threat was suddenly silenced as Nine Oh Four stepped up, his emotionless lenses and undivided attention kept straight on the small girl in Monroe's arms, who in turn slowly peeked at Nine Oh Four's metal face.

" _Analyzing…"_ the others remained silent as the Pacification Unit proceeded with his internal analysis, finally he spoke. _"Analysis Complete. Subject: Human. Gender: Female. Skin Condition: Normal. Heart Rate: Normal. Blood Pressure: Normal. Breathing: Slightly Erratic – Possibly due to shock or low air temperature. Recommend moving subject to location with warmer climate. – Hair Coloration: Purple – Unknown – Eye Coloration: Purple – Unknown."_ Nine Oh Four stared at the girl for a few moments longer before turning back to address the squad. _"Subject is perfectly heathy by normal human standards. Loss of normal weight indicates slight malnutrition. Recommend finding suitable sustenance as well as fresh water source. Hair and Eyes indicate purple coloration, not at all genetically found in any normal human being. However, this unit detects a feint, yet strong unknown energy source residing within the female's body. Recommend extracting human female to Uranian Technology and Research Corporation for further study."_

Everyone, the young girl included, stood in silence. They didn't know what to do.

Finally Monroe decided to say his piece. "Well, there you have it, Sarge. I sure as hell don't want to experiment on her, but there's no way I'm just leaving her here to die. You can court martial me all you want, but that's my decision." Monroe stared into Robert's lenses in defiance. The Sergeant's fist tightened before he let loose a loud sigh through his speakers before turning around and making his way down the hill.

"Let's just get the _hell_ out of this godforsaken place."

Monroe smiled as he stared at his squad leader's back. _'Thanks, Sarge.'_

The rest of the squad also began to make their way down the hill, but before Miles had a chance to move, Whales came up next to him.

"So, the little cutie have a name?" she asked she stared down at the little girl, who had promptly fallen asleep against Monroe's chest.

 _Probably 'cause of all the shit that's happened.'_ He thought in amusement as his helmet materialized itself back on his head before adjusting the girl in his arms and walking down the hill with Whales at his side.

"Yeah…said that her name was _Ultear_."

* * *

" _And you really believe that jumping into random universes and alternate dimensions will be the saving grace of humanity?"_

" _Of course! As I have stated, why waste even more resources and precious time search through space when we can simply do it right here on our doorstep?"_

" _And say we went along with your…idea. What do we do if we just so happen to find intelligent life in the other universes? You know, such as_ _ **other**_ _humans?"_

 _Cameron Newborn didn't answer right away, instead opting to stay silent with an ominous smirk on his face._

" _You know how the saying goes, 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'"_

-Conversation between Uranian Head Scientist, Cameron Newborn, and unknown Coalition Official.


	2. Chapter 2

" _A Mathematician makes plans to travel backwards in time through a wormhole to a parallel universe when he can't even make it to Mars with the fastest rocket on hand today."_

-Bill Gaede.

 **Chapter 2:** _ **Intelligent Life, Broken Laws of Physics**_

 **Personal ID: Pvt. Miles "Manslaughter" Monroe**

"Do you have _any_ idea how much of a shitstorm you've gotten yourself into, son? Not only did you disobey orders, not once, but _**three**_ times from your commanding officer, you've also almost flushed this entire operation down the shitter for bringing back an unknown from another dimension. An unknown who just so happens to be a goddamn _**kid**_ of all things." Tiberius gestured towards the nearby room, where on the other side of a one-way window, at least a half a dozen doctors were scrambling all over their workstations performing various tests on the child who was still currently asleep on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask placed over her mouth along with an IV syringe injected into her left wrist. "Insubordination is one thing, Private. Bringing back an unknown variable from another dimension we know absolutely _nothing_ about is another matter entirely. You're lucky you have an angel looking after you in the form of Sergeant Franklyn Roberts, or I swear by Christ on His golden throne that I would've court marshaled your ass back to the Stone Age!"

"Sir, I _know_ that I fucked myself hard by not following orders and bringing the kid back with me, but that's all she is, Sir. _**A Fucking kid.**_ She was literally on the verge of collapsing right in front of me in the middle of an icy tundra cold enough to rival Antarctica. I know that we weren't supposed to make any form of contact but I wasn't just going to leave her there to die. For God's sake, we're _**Marines**_ , General! We're supposed to be protecting people, not leaving them to die!"

Monroe's heart felt like a jackhammer inside his chest as he came within an inch close of screaming at the General of the entire New American Military. He knew that his ass would, at best, be thrown into the shark pit but no matter what happened to him he would stand firm on his decision. Marines _**always**_ protected those who couldn't stand up for themselves, no matter who they were or where they were from.

His already rapid heartbeat only seemed to increase further as the American General shot him a glare that could melt through stainless steel. Not once did he say a single word, only keeping his posture straight with his hands cupped behind them. It wasn't until Miles was almost to the point of hyperventilating did the General then choose to speak.

"Private, I know that we Marines have always held the mantle of being the protectors of the innocent; World War 2, the wars in the Middle East against the radical ISIS group back in the 2010's, along with the Water Wars have attested to that, but _this_ is completely different. We're not dealing with religious radicals or private military contractors, we're dealing with intelligent life from other _dimensions._ For all we know, this _child_ ," he gestured back towards the unconscious girl, "could very well be some sort of alien or creature in disguise. Hell, even if she _were_ fully human, did you ever consider the fact that somebody on the other side might be looking for her? Family, relatives, friends? For all we know they could be searching for her this very instant! We _**cannot**_ keep her here!"

Monroe momentarily gulped in realization. He had been so busy trying to get the girl to safety that he wasn't aware that she might have family potentially looking for her. But the question is, why would she be all alone in the first place if she had a family? Maybe a runaway from home? Or an abandoned orphan perhaps? Whatever the case may be, one thing was for certain; the General was right. With all that was currently going on, there was no way they would be able to conduct operations _and_ keep an eye on her at the same time.

He sighed in resignation before looking back at Tiberius. "Understood, General. I take full responsibility for this entire mess and will gladly except any form of punishment-"

"I wouldn't sell yourself so short just _yet_ , Private." Both of the Marines were jostled out of their conversation by the appearance of Cameron Newborn, who stepped through a nearby door that went into the room which held the girl. The scientist made his way over towards the two before speaking. "You really should give Mr. Monroe more credit, General Tiberius. Not only were he and his squad the first humans of this Earth to make first contact with interdimensional humans, but he was also the one who was able to bring us back a hypothetical diamond in the rough as you could say."

"What the hell are you talking about, Newborn?" Tiberius narrowed his eyes.

Newborn gave them one of his unsettling smirks before making his way back towards the door. "Follow me and find out for yourselves."

His anxiety now all but gone, Monroe made his way into the operating room along with Tiberius. The nearby doctors and scientists simply glanced at them before returning to their duties. Newborn placed himself on the opposite side of the hospital bed while Tiberius and Monroe took the other.

Monroe's eyes softened considerably as he gazed at the small girl on the bed. Her tiny chest was rising and falling in a slow but steady pace, indicating that she was simply sleeping. His hand unconsciously found itself on her small forehead as brushed some loose strands of purple hair out of her eyes. He noticed how soft and smooth her pale skin was. It was almost like rubbing his finger against a baby. Despite being in the freezing snow not one hour ago, her skin had already returned to a healthy temperature along with surprisingly no signs of frostbite. Not even a hint of red or blue could be found on her skin, which was amazing to say the rest considering she must have been out there for quite a while.

A quick cough from Newborn brought Monroe out of his thoughts as he retracted his hand to his side. Newborn then went on to address the two men.

"Now then, Ms. Wilkins," he gestured to one of the nearby scientists, a slim yet pretty brunet wearing a standard issue lab coat. "Would you please give us a rundown of the patient's status?"

"Certainly, Mr. Newborn." The woman identified as Wilkins said before turning to a monitor placed on a nearby table. Her fingers raced through the keys as she spoke. "As you can see, the subject is at a perfect level of health, both physically and so far, mentally. We've given her some doses of vitamins and liquids for her mild malnutrition and dehydration. We've found no traces of frostbite or any other physical injuries on her body aside from the mild muscle strain in her legs, probably due to an overextended period of running. However, that should heal up within the week. We've also haven't been able to locate any diseases, harmful bacteria, or internal injuries. However what we _did_ manage to find was…well _extremely shocking_ to put it mildly."

Monroe and Tiberius stared at the scientist with uncertainty along with mild trepidation on Monroe's part. Just what had they found that was so much cause for concern?

Noticing the looks being sent her way, Wilkins cleared her throat before continuing. "While we were running our scans to locate any possible internal injuries, the scanners were able to locate _large_ amounts of an unknown foreign energy running throughout the subject's entire body. We ran additional scans to make sure we weren't seeing things, but the results ended up being the same. Whatever kind of energy is inside of the subject's body is _literally_ all over every part of her body; skin, blood, bones, organs, we were even able to find faint traces of it in her _hair_ of all places. To be absolutely sure, we took a sample of the subject's blood and analyzed it for further study. We even made a comparison towards all of our know energy sources on Earth, but what we found was…was…" she signed in frustration before looking back towards the two. "I believe it would be better if you saw for yourself, General."

Tiberius and Monroe gave each other uncertain glances before walking towards the monitor. On the screen were two very detailed bar graphs standing side by side each other. The bar on the left side of the screen was green in color while the other was a blank white. Below each respective bar was a label. The green had the word ' _ **Nuclear'**_ labeled under it while the white had the word _**'Unknown'**_. Though what was even stranger was the fact that the white bar was almost a half times bigger than the green bar.

Tiberius' eyes widened immensely. He knew what those graphs meant yet he couldn't' bring himself to comprehend it. Monroe, however, simply looked at the screen in confusion, not at all understanding what he was seeing.

"Um…I don't get it. What exactly am I looking at here?"

"Those graphs…" Tiberius said slowly. "Represent the strengths of all of our known energy sources."

"Correct." Wilkins said while nodding. "We typically use these as starting points for most of our experiments. Mostly to conclude whatever type of energy source works the best with any kind of machine. How do you think we managed to switch to nuclear energy all these years?" she quickly shook her head. "But that's not important, look here…" She point towards the green bar. "This bar represents the energy strength of our Nuclear energy, which is currently the strongest energy source on the planet. This bar right here…" she pointed towards the white. "Is the energy source we found inside of the girl."

Monroe eyes widened in understanding. "So you mean to tell us that-"

"That girl's body is entire powerhouse of energy that's almost twice as strong as nuclear energy." Wilkins finished with a grim nod. "We hardly believed it ourselves, but it's impossible to deny. Her body is _overflowing_ with the stuff. I'm honestly amazed that a girl of her size can even handle _half_ of the amount. With as much energy as she has right now, I'm pretty sure would be able to power an entire Phoenix-Class Starship by herself if she wanted to."

Tiberius and Monroe dropped their mouths in shock. An entire Phoenix-Class by _herself_? Those were one of the largest starships in the entire Coalition Fleet!

Thankfully Tiberius was able to quickly regain his posture, though there was a slight shake to his voice as he looked back towards the sleeping child. "So what you're trying to tell me is that this kid is basically a walking starship generator?"

Wilkins rubbed the back of her neck. "That's pretty much the gist of it, but yes."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the general quickly looked away before taking a few deep breaths in order to calm the raging storm of swears that nearly erupted from his throat. Wilkins, along with some of the other nearby doctors, taking precautionary measures by quickly stepping back lest she was caught up in the general's inevitable fit of anger.

Monroe, however, ignored the general's inner struggle and instead found himself once again standing by Ultear's bedside. He absentmindedly stroked her little head with gentle fingers while looking at her with sullen eyes. She hadn't even been here for an hour and already they were finding more and more things wrong with her. The poor girl had just gotten out of a hellish blizzard and was now in a completely different world. And the worst part was that she didn't even know it.

His other hand unconsciously went up and took the one of the girl's smaller ones in a gentle grip. With him still in his armor, he might as well have been a giant compared to her tiny form.

"This isn't as bad as you're making it out to be, General." Newborn's voice brought Monroe at of his thoughts as he looked up to see the scientist staring at Tiberius, who was now glaring back at Newborn in barely restrained anger. "In fact," Newborn continued, all but ignoring the general's leer. "I don't think we could've asked for an even greater opportunity than the one Private Monroe has so willingly bestowed upon us."

"Not bad? _Greater opportunity?_ We're not here to kidnap random kids from other dimensions for your sick little science experiments, Newborn! Our mission out there is simple excavation and retrieval of raw materials and resources for _our_ planet! We don't have the time to get sidetracked by any unnecessary variables! Whatever it is you're thinking of doing, Newborn, I'm warning you, _**don't**_."

Newborn sighed in mild frustration as he attempted to placate the angered general. "Now, now, no need to get all hostile, Tiberius. I was merely offering up a temporary proposition as the excavation goes underway. While your soldiers are in the midst of gathering raw materials on the other side, my team and I will remain here and continue to study further on the anonymous energy flowing within the girl. If possible, I would very much like to see if we could possibly extract a sample of the energy; to see if we can't get a better inquiry by observing down to the atomic level."

Monroe didn't like where the scientist was going with this. In fact, he huddled over Ultear's unconscious form in a semi-protective manner while glaring at Newborn.

"She's just a kid, doc," he growled menacingly. "Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass what's on the inside of her. There's no way in hell you're gonna cut her open like some science fair toad just so you can see what makes her tic. _Especially_ after I just saved her from freezing to death."

Newborn wasn't the least bit perturbed at the Private's threatening manner. "Collecting samples hardly requires the use of a full-scale operation, Private Monroe. A simple sample of her blood should be more than enough to suffice. And I can personally guarantee you, Private, that no more harm will come to her. I may be a bit odd at time but I'm in no way, shape, or form a monster. That I swear to you as the head scientist of the Uranian Technology and Research Corporation."

Monroe still didn't look convinced but relaxed his posture nonetheless. Though he still made sure to remain close by Ultear's bedside.

"Alright, that's enough out of you two." Tiberius' voice one again regained the two other men's attention as he clasped his hands behind his back. "We still have a lot of work to do and little time to do it. Private Monroe, return to your squad and await further orders. Don't ever let me catch wind of you disobeying direct order from your superior officer ever again, because I can promise you that I won't be so nice next time. Newborn, keep monitoring the girl's health and make sure that she's kept on tight watch in case she wakes up." The general then proceeded to walk out of the room, not waiting for any of the men to reply.

Newborn gave a single nod of acknowledgement before turning to address one of the nearby doctors. Monroe, however, gave the general a questioning look as he followed him out the door. "Tight watch, sir? But she's just a kid! What possible reason could we have to treat her like she's a threat?"

He almost wilted under the hard glare the general gave him. "There are a lot of reasons, Private. In fact, there are so many that I can't be bothered to list even half of them right now. We're already busy enough as it is with gathering resources in a separate dimension and an unknown loose end is the last thing that we need in this entire clusterfuck of an operation. You also heard what Newborn said. If that girl is harboring some kind of energy output enough to rival a starship reactor then there's no telling what else she might be capable of. We also won't know how she'll react when she finds out she's woken up in a completely different dimension surrounded by a bunch of people she doesn't know. _If_ she ever wakes up that is. Point is; we know absolutely nothing about her and with all that's going on right now, the last thing we can afford is something we don't know." Tiberius let out a tired and aggravated sigh before looking back at Monroe. "I know you were just trying to do the right thing, son, but that choice in thinking may have damn well compromised this entire operation. All we can do now is keep moving forward and pray that this won't end up fucking us all over in the end."

Monroe said nothing, instead opting to stare down at the ground with a myriad of emotions swimming around in his head. It was true. He may as well have jeopardized the mission all because of an act of kindness but even though he did feel some shame at disobeying Roberts' orders, he didn't regret saving the girl's life. After all he was a soldier. A Marine. Saving people's lives was what he did, regardless of whether or not he was going against orders while doing it. He may have been a soldier but he was not some mindless pacification unit that blindly followed orders down to the letter without question. Even if he ended up getting himself thrown into federal prison for the rest of his life, it would all be worth it if it meant letting someone as young as Ultear live. It was why he became a marine in the first place. To save those who couldn't fight back. To aide those who couldn't stand for themselves.

A good soldier follows orders, yes.

But an even greater soldier followed his heart if it meant doing the right thing.

And he would gladly face court martial with a smile on his face if it meant letting kids like Ultear live just a bit longer.

* * *

 **Personal ID: Cpl. David "Corpse" Cormac**

While the rest of us waited for Miles to return from the possible clusterfuck he had gotten himself into, I took the time to survey the surrounding area. The Marines, along with dozens of Newborn's eggheads, were taking great time and effort at constructing what would soon be our Forward Operating Base for the duration of our mission here. A little while after we and the other Recon teams had confirmed that the surrounding area had been clear of any signs of life (besides Miles' little child abduction act), General Tiberius had ordered a base perimeter to be constructed within 50 meters of the portal. Marines would cut down any obstructing trees before using flamethrowers to melt the snow. After that multiple tarps would be set up in order to cover the surrounding area from the falling snow. Thankfully some of Newman's eggheads just so happened to be experts in Meteorology and said that the weather should be clearing up soon. Thank God for that or else we would be having dozens of gallons of melted snow raining over our heads in a few hours.

"Think the General threw Monroe's dumb ass into a cell yet?" Teague's gruff came from nearby as he smoked through his second Cuban cigar. When he wasn't murdering the shit out of Alliance soldiers or being an ass to the rest of the squad, Jackson usually spent his time drowning himself in whiskey or rotting his teeth out in ash with the amount of cigars he smoked. Though he somehow always managed to keep his teeth crystal clean despite the amount of smoke he inhaled. "I mean, there's no way in hell he'd put a gun back in his hand after he just kidnapped someone's kid."

"He didn't _kidnap_ the kid, dumbass," Whales' sharp voice cut him off. "Honestly, is all that smoke clouding up your nonexistent brain or are you just that retarded?"

"Piss off, Whales," Teague sneered as he took another drag of his cigar. "If I wanted any of your fuckin' useless opinions I'd ask for them."

"Well, then why don't you do us all a favor and shut your cock sucker up for once, you damn pussycat?"

Jackson shot to his feet and closed in on Jennifer, his cigar all but forgotten on the ground. "What the fuck did you say you goddamn-"

" _ **Enough!"**_ Sergeant Roberts bulldozed his way between my rabid squad mates. "I'm sick and fucking tired of having to play the goddamn nanny between you two stupid fucks! Now I want this shit squared away right-the-fuck now or I swear to Sweet and Sunny Jesus that I'll demote the both of you down back to PFC so fast you'll have whiplash for the rest of your pathetic lives! _**Do I make myself clear, you damn grunts?!"**_

Jennifer and Jackson still looked about ready to throw down right then and there but the red hot glare from the Sarge was enough to get them both to settle down and return to ignoring each other's existence.

A Devil's grin split my face as the Sarge came towards me. I huffed my chest. "And once again the day is saved, thanks to Sergeant Franklyn Roberts of the USCN." I said in the most dramatic voice I could muster.

"Stow it, Cormac." Roberts snapped his gaze toward me, his fierce glare still persistent on his face. "How 'bout you be a little fuckin' useful for once and make sure they don't try to kill each other again?"

"But that defeats the whole purpose, Sarge." I said in a mock whine. "If they're both dead then there won't be any need for you to waste your breath on them anymore. You can't yell at a corpse, after all."

"Eat a dick, Cormac!" Jackson yelled. I flipped him the bird for good measure before narrowly avoiding a wad of snow that was thrown my way by Jennifer.

I was about to respond with another witty comment just for the thrill of pissing Teague off further, though I knew doing so would more than likely make my nickname become reality, however I never got the chance to do so due to spotting the all too familiar armored figure of our wayward squad mate emerging from the portal.

"Well whattya fucking know!" Teague shouted in mock joy as Monroe made his way towards us. He hooked his arm around Miles' shoulders and gave him condescending a smirk. "So? Spill it, Monroe! Did Tiberius shitcan your dumbass out of the Corps or did he just demote you down to PFC for the rest of your military career?"

Miles quickly shoved Teague back with the butt of his rifle. Obviously his little dressing down from the General had been more extreme than we thought. "Fuck off, Teague. I'm not in the mood to deal with your bullshit right now."

Teague shrugged, obviously not caring about Miles' sour mood, before going off to lean on a nearby tree and lighting another cigar. "Ain't nobody's fault but your own, Monroe." He blew out a puff of smoke. "After all, you're the one who decided to bring that little shit back with you in the first place. This is an army in case your dumbass forgot, not child protective services."

"What the fuck was I supposed to do? Leave her out to die in the cold?" Miles exclaimed to Teague, clearly offended with his uncaring attitude. "For fuck's sake, she was only wearing a thin hospital gown! A couple minutes too late and she would have frozen to death! She's lucky the scrubs back in the lab didn't have to amputate her feet from walking barefoot in the snow for God knows how long!"

Though Teague, being the uncaring asshole that he always is, simply took another drag from his cigar. "Well aren't you just a sweetheart? Saving a kid from inevitable peril? How touching. And it's because of that soft attitude of yours that you almost got your ass handed to you on a silver platter by Tiberius. Now the eggheads have look after some little shit _on top_ of finding out a way to get this planet's recourses from here back home. I definitely don't envy them right now." Another drag. "And what the fuck kind of kid has _purple_ hair of all things?"

"One that obviously has parents who don't care enough." I said sarcastically. "Or, and here's the crazy part, one that might actually be from another universe!"

Yeah, I know that was bad, but the couple seconds of silence along with the five pairs of deadpan looks was well worth it.

"Go fuck yourself, Cormac." Teague said as he discarded he cigar onto the snowy ground.

"Buy me some quality dinner first then we'll talk, Teague."

His glare look as though it could've melted the snow. However, he didn't get the chance to retort as a synthesized voice suddenly spoke up.

" _Slaughter Boy Squad."_ Nine Oh Four addressed us through his mouthpiece. _"New orders received from HIGHCOM. Redon helmets for further instructions."_

That got a surprised reaction from all of us, though it quickly wore off as we did as instructed and readjusted our ear pieces.

" _Attention all active combat duty personnel in the surrounding area; this is Commander Quentin. As of a few minutes ago, one of our HORNET drones detected unusual activity about a click northeast of the base along with massive amounts of unknown energy signatures. I'm sure you all realize just how important the success of this mission; not just to the USCN but to the rest of the world, as well, so you can bet your asses that HIGHCOM isn't taking any chances here. Therefore I am assigning both Polar and Slaughter Boy squads to recon and secure the area. Backup platoons will be on standby in case shit hits the fan. Go find out whatever the fuck is happening over there and report back ASAP. Remain undetected and avoid any local inhabitants you might come across. Remember that we're here to do a job, not make friends. In the event that you are spotted, do not engage unless the locals are proven to be hostile and even then return fire only if fired upon and get out of sight as quickly as possible. Quentin out."_

Well, there goes my twenty minutes of rest and relaxation.

"Alright, fuckers, you heard the Commander! Get your asses in gear and move out!" As always, Sarge had to get in one last dose of verbal abuse before a mission no matter how small it was.

"Fucking finally! Some actual goddamn action for once!" Sadly, as always, Teague just had to keep opening his mouth. He threw his burnt out cigar on the ground. "Was getting sick and fucking tired of just sittin' around on my ass all day!"

"Calm the fuck down, Kitty Cat." Gorrey piped up as he loaded his rifle. "Unlike you some of us actually enjoy sitting on our asses and doing nothing."

"Call me 'Kitty Cat' again and I'll put your lazy ass in a fuckin' wheelchair." Teague growled as he donned his facemask and helmet."

"It would be a _hell_ of a lot better if you both would just shut the duck up for once." Quipped Whales as she cocked a bullet into the chamber of her sniper rifle.

"Tell me about it." Miles mumbled as he gave his pack one last inspection.

"Both of you can go fuck yourselves. Nobody asked for your fuckin' opinions."

" _Corporal Teague, please desist all hostilities at once."_

" _Fuck off, Tin Man!"_

" _ **All of you shut the fuck up right-goddamn-now!"**_

As funny as this was, sometimes I wondered why I couldn't have gotten a bunch of normal squad mates.

* * *

It took us all about fifteen minutes to hoof it to the recon point.

The first thing we noticed was the wide expanse of somewhat modernized buildings.

The second thing we noticed was that it looked as though we were all back on Phobos.

To put it simpler terms: the entire place was a goddamn warzone. The streets were littered with destroyed concrete along with chunks of cobblestone, wood, and shards of glass that no doubt originated from the hundreds of nearby homes that were either missing a few pieces or only had a few pieces left. Fires consumed some of the buildings and swept through the nearby roads in their unforgiving blaze. The white and cloudy sky was filled to the brim with black smoke as snow was soon replaced with ash and soot.

In short: it was Hell. A hell that reminded us all too much of Mars' largest moon.

The only difference was that there were no corpses, much to all of our surprise and shock. As far as we could tell, the inhabitants had either abandoned or evacuated the entire town long before it had been attacked. Or maybe everyone really was dead and there was simply nothing left to bury, though that seemed highly unlikely given the fact that there were no bloodstains body parts to be found.

With our camouflage activated both my squad along with Polar's silently made our way through the maze of burning ruins, sticking to the walls and dark alleyways while taking great care to avoid any of the main roads. No telling what kind of enemy forces we might've encountered and for all we knew they were still here, watching and waiting to bait and ambush some unfortunate soul unlucky enough to wander through these burning ruins in search of survivors. Luckily our motions sensors hadn't detected any movement and our sound absorbent boots made practically impossible for any human to detect us. Breathing in the surrounding smoke also wasn't an issue thanks to the filters in our Vacu-masks. Thank God for nearly 22nd century technology.

We emerged from the alley in a tight diamond formation before quickly and quietly making our way across the nearby street. Sarge was taking point down the middle while I covered the right and Teague covered left with Miles and Whales coming up on our six. Following close behind were six other soldiers that made up Polar squad, also taking up similar positions as they checked their three and nine o'clock before making their way across a minute later, rifles up and sweeping the nearby house windows for any signs of life, local inhabitant or otherwise. We all regrouped inside another nearby alleyway before the twelve of us once again continued to sweep through and in between the ruined buildings. Like a well-oiled machine we repeated this process for what felt like an hour despite the fact that we had only been here for about twenty or so minutes. It was one of the things that I really hated about combat. A single minute could end up feeling about a hundred times as long and you could never really tell if time even existed anymore. You don't tend to keep track while trying to avoid an enemy that wants you dead.

Though as morbid as it was, there was one concept of war that had always fascinated me; the fact that it could tear down years' worth of work and progress in such a short amount of time. A city that took a century to build could be completely destroyed in a matter of hours or a population made up of thousands to even a million could be decimated well within a day. Funny how there were so few ways to save the world yet over a million ways to destroy it. Even funnier was the fact that Earth was well on her way to running out of resources, which inadvertently caused a year-long war that resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 people. Aren't humans such a marvelous species?

" _Command, this is Slaughter Actual,"_ I heard Roberts' voice over the comms. _"We've arrived at what appears to be some sort of city that's been completely burned to the ground. Looks as though it was recently attacked. We're scouting out what's left over but have yet to encounter any hostile forces. Over."_

" _Command copies all, Slaughter Boy. Your orders remains as follows; recon the entire area and report back to base as soon as possible. If you encounter any hostile activity do not engage unless fired upon. Over."_

 _Roger that, Command, we'll continue to scout out the rest of the area and fall back to the FOB as soon as-"_

That was when we heard it.

If I had to describe the sound that was currently rolling over the entire city like an ocean wave, it would've been loud and monstrous, like the kind of sounds you hear when watching a Godzilla movie on full blast with surround sound speakers. In fact I would've assumed that it was, indeed, the king of monsters, himself, if not for the fact that the inhuman roaring we were hearing was lighter than one that came out of walking, 350 ft. lizard, though that didn't mean that it was any less terrifying.

" _Slaughter Boy, Polar, come in. Over. What's happening over there?"_

Roberts looked back and signaled Polar squad to move ahead and take point before moving back to his comms. _"Command, be advised, we're currently hearing what appears to be a large, unidentified creature of some kind just a click away from our position. Might be the cause of what attacked the city. Over"_

" _Say again, Slaughter Actual, did you say an 'unidentified creature?' As in only one? Not just a heard of smaller animals?"_

" _Affirmative, Command. Whatever the hell it is, it's huge. Maybe around 50 or so feet. Should we go and investigate or fall back to base? Over."_

There was about a minute of radio silence before the comms picked up again.

" _Roger that, Slaughter Actual, you and Polar squad have new orders; locate and determine the threat assessment of the creature, though keep your distance and continue to remain out of sight. We're prepping and sending in a swarm of WASP drones to your location in case things go FUBAR. Stay safe out there, Slaughter Boy, Polar. The last thing we need is losing more men in some godforsaken planet. Over."_

 _Slaughter boy all, Command. We'll get it done. Slaughter Boy out."_

Roberts took his hand off his helmet before turning to address us. "You heard the man, ladies and gents, time to do what we're made for. Jenkins!" he said to what I assumed to be the man in charge of Polar squad. "Your squad will take point while the rest of us cover your asses from the rear. We're on a thin schedule so let's move it people!"

Like a well-oiled machine the rest of us got into our original positions before falling into a half-jog, half-sprint towards the epicenter of the creature's wrath. With all of this going on at once I couldn't help but feel like we were running towards the mouth of Hell, itself. The surrounding fire and destruction, along with the roar of what sounded like a demon just added to the hellish theme that this city was projecting. Hopefully we would somehow be able to deal with whatever the hell it was that was making all of those demonic noises but deep down I already knew that any effort on our part would be futile until the swarm of WASP drones showed up. None of us were that well equipped to be taking on an invading army much less some huge monster. The most we had were some grenades, Whales' anti-material rifle, and a small rocket launcher that one of the boys in Polar squad carried. Definitely not the kind of equipment you want to use when taking on Godzilla. Too bad we didn't have any way of getting tanks or aircraft through that portal until we had a solid foothold in this outlandish world, otherwise would be more than enough prepared to deal with whatever threat that came our way.

I was more than prepared to go down fighting if need be, however that didn't stop me from hoping to all hope that we wouldn't have to fight at all.

* * *

 **About a mile away from Slaughter Boy and Polar squad's position, near the epicenter of the city.**

Ur was, for all intents and purposes, on her last leg. Quite literally if she might add. Not only because she had recently lost her leg which had to be replaced with a crutch made of ice, but also because she was on the verge of draining what was left of her magical reserves.

She swore that if she somehow survived this, she was going to beat the ever-loving shit out of her troublesome student for getting himself into this mess.

Though she knew long before that she wasn't going to be leaving here alive.

That wasn't to say that she was simply going to give up on her student and leave him to die to this monster. True he may have been as stubborn as a mule, dramatically impatient, and a colossal-sized pain in the ass, but he was still her beloved student no matter how much trouble he got himself into, and she would gladly give her life with a smile on her face if it meant preventing any more harm from befalling onto him. Lord knows he'd already suffered enough.

However, those thoughts still didn't stop her from silently cursing her student for his stubborn nature. She had tried to warn him, tell him that he was nowhere near the demon's level of strength and that he was surely going to get himself killed if he tried to fight it. But no matter what she said or did, he vehemently refused her in favor of going off by himself in his pointless search of vengeance. She understood his anger, she truly did. He had lost everything when the demon attacked his hometown and killed his parents, forcing him to become a lonely orphan left alone in a harsh and cruel world.

She, too, had lost everything after her daughter had died.

But that all had changed when she decided to take in her two students in order to train them in the art of Ice Magic. Though she had vehemently stated that she never once thought of them as replacements for her daughter, that still didn't stop her from thinking of them as her own. She took them in, gave them food to eat, and warm beds to sleep in. And despite their tendency to get into arguments with each other and questioning almost everything she taught them, she had never once regretted it for even a second.

And she was more than willing to give her life for theirs.

Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths as the rest of her body ached with pain. She clutched her arm with gritted teeth while glaring at the towering demon no more than fifty feet in front of her. Despite her body begging for rest, she stood protectively in front her two students, who had both been knocked unconscious and were laying behind her in a pile of rubble. As far as she could tell, none of them seemed to have sustained serious injuries which gave her a small amount of relief for the time being. However, the fact that there was still a hundred foot demon in front of her without so much as a scratch on it replaced that relief with dread. She knew she wouldn't be able to get her students out of here safely without at least finding some way to restrain it, and even then there was a very slim chance of them getting out alive.

She supposed that if push came to shove, she would be forced to use _that_ spell as a last resort. But she didn't want to take that chance unless there were absolutely no other options. She may have been weakened but she was far from out of the game.

Another loud roar ripped across the sky and sent shockwaves through the ground, nearly catching her off balance and deafening her but she continued to stand her ground. Not once was she willing to show this demon any sort of weakness or satisfaction. She continued to glare back at the demon as she brought both her hands back, one forming into a fist while the other formed an open palm. She took one last deep breath before shouting.

" _Ice Make: Arrows!"_

As soon as the words left her mouth did a large and white circle made of strangle glyphs suddenly appear out of thin air directly in front of her. About a second later a swarm of arrows made out of ice launched out of the circle and towards the demon at surprisingly high speeds. The demon growled, more out of annoyance than pain as the arrows made contact with its armor-like skin. No matter how many arrows were fired or how fast they traveled, it was an utterly futile attempt as they shattered on impact like glass. Ur aimed up a bit, trying to see if she could maybe blind the demon with her arrows but like with the rest of its body, the arrows only seemed to shatter, which in turn, only seemed to irritate the demon further.

Knowing that her arrows weren't doing any damage, Ur canceled her attack in favor of a different strategy. She brought her hands down, palms facing upward, before casting another spell and lifting her arms into the air.

" _Ice Make: Stalagmites!"_

As with the arrows, dozens of magic circles appeared on the ground in front of her, completely surrounding the demon before hundreds of large spikes made of ice suddenly shot out of the circles and into the air. The demon roared as its body became entrapped in a wall made of sharp ice that nearly reached the same height as its body was. Its arms were caught like a piece of fish between chopsticks while its legs were completely covered from foot to waist in a sinkhole of icicles.

Ur didn't stop there. Using what little bit of magic she had, she poured into her attack until every part of the demon's body was completely engulfed in ice. Knowing that she would have little time to escape, she quickly limped her way back towards her two unconscious students before gently picking them up. Luckily they were both light enough for her to carry over each shoulder. With her two students tightly secured in her arms, she used the remaining strength she had to limp as fast as she could in the opposite direction. Hopefully she would at least be able to make it out of sight just in in time before the demon broke out of its icy coffin.

Her ears suddenly perked up at what sounded like shattering glass in the distance but before she even had a chance to register what it was, a beam of pure white energy suddenly shot out of the iced statue behind her before it impacted the ground no more than ten feet beside her.

The last thing she saw was a blinding white flash followed by an explosion that launched her into the air with the force of a cannon. All that was left was darkness.

* * *

 **Ten minutes earlier.**

You know? I'm beginning to think that the air on this planet might be fucking up my mental health, because there is no way in holy hell that what I'm seeing in front of me is real.

We had all spent the last fifteen or so minutes running like hell towards the source of the ungodly noise that had nearly deafened us. Even though it sounded like some big ass Godzilla monster, I was hoping for the life of me that it wouldn't be the case. On top of trying to secure this planet's resources and Miles going against orders rescuing some kid, the absolutely last thing we needed was some giant fucking lizard going all apeshit on us when we didn't even the necessary equipment to deal with such a thing. And we sure as hell couldn't just abandon the planet either, considering the fact that Newborn, along with the Uranian Technology Corp. had apparently already spent millions on this project. Not only that, but this whole thing just might be humanities last resort at gaining new and valuable resources. Not like we were equipped to start terraforming distant worlds or anything along the line.

But there had to be a line somewhere between going on a quest for resources and sending more soldiers to die on some suicide mission that they knew little to nothing about. Christ knows we don't need another Water War anytime soon.

However, what we saw didn't even come _close_ to what we were all expecting. At least, not entirely.

Sure enough, when we had finally reached our destination, the first thing we saw was, indeed, _a giant ass Godzilla monster_. Though it was nowhere near the height of Japan's famed lizard monster, it was still pretty huge and was equally as intimidating. If I had to compare it to something, I would say that it looked more like some huge _demon_ rather than a walking lizard. The large horns jutting out of its head could certainly attest to that fact. The thing was also slightly tinted green and had armored scales that looked to be on par with a tank. What was even more strange was the fact that it had a slight _human_ appearance to it. It was bipedal and had arms that indeed look as though it came from a human, despite the fact that its arms were also covered with armored scales. Its torso was also slightly human in appearance, which rippled with muscles that looked as big as a car along with being riddled with two drill-like scars that ran vertically down its shoulders. Its gaping maw, however, was lined with jagged fangs that looked as tall as spears while its soulless black eyes peered over the destroyed city. Behind its two horns was, strangely enough, a mane of long black hair that reached just below its neck.

Though as scary as this thing was, it wasn't the monster that had us all shocked.

About fifty or so feet in front of the monster was what looked to be a woman who was quite literally, _shooting arrows out of circle that was floating in midair._

I wouldn't even know how to describe this even if I could. If I had told someone that I had just seen a woman magically shooting arrows out of a floating circle, they would either think I was high or that I needed to go see a doctor. Either way it was fucking ridiculous no matter how well you worded it.

"What the fuck," someone nearby said out loud. I was pretty sure it was one of the guys from Polar squad.

"My thoughts exactly, marine." Gorrey said with an equal amount of disbelief in his voice. He shook his head before turning to Roberts, "Hey Sarge, you seeing what we're seeing? Because I'm pretty sure that this planet's oxygen is toxic and we're starting to see some shit."

"For once, you actually have a point, Gorrey." Teague said. "If I wasn't so sure I was seeing shit, I'd shoot myself in the foot."

"I can do that if you want," replied Gorrey. "Though I might make it a headshot just to be sure."

"Go fuck yourself, Gorrey," growled Teague as he continued to watch the ensuing battle.

I shook my head. Even in the middle of a shit storm like this, those two will still continue to go at it like a bunch of fucking kids.

But even then I couldn't help but notice that Sarge hadn't even made an attempt to break up their banter. Probably too engrossed in the fight to have even noticed it.

I was about to address him before he suddenly put his hand up to his comms.

" _Command, this is Slaughter Actual, come in. Over."_ We all heard his voice say over the line.

" _Go ahead, Slaughter Actual."_

" _We've reached what appears to be the epicenter of the town's destruction and we're currently observing what appears to be a hundred foot creature of some unknown origin laying waste to whatever it can find. Over."_

" _Copy that, Slaughter Actual. Have you and your teams been compromised?"_

" _No, sir. We've managed to remain hidden amongst the ruins and are currently observing the creature from a safe distance. However, we've…also managed to find something else."_

" _We read you, Slaughter Actual, what did you find?"_

" _We found…well…sir, I'm not exactly sure how to say this without sounding like a complete lunatic but we found what appears to be a woman somehow fighting the creature with some unknown abilities."_

We could all practically hear the disbelief on the other side of the comms. The silence that followed was almost as deafening as the monster's roar.

"… _Repeat your last, Slaughter Actual; did you just say you saw a woman somehow_ fighting _the creature with unknown abilities?"_

" _Yes, sir. As I said before, I don't know how to explain this in a way that will make sense, but from what we can tell, it appears as though she's somehow holding the creature back with some kind of abilities that appear to be ice based. Right now it looks as though she's shooting a volley of what looks like arrows at the creature, though from what we can tell it appears to be having little effect."_

" _You're saying the woman is fighting off the creature with ice powers?"_ Even through the comms I could plainly hear the heavy skepticism in his tone.

" _That's putting it mildly, but it appears so, sir."_

No more words came over the comms. I was starting to think that the Commander was about to rip the Sarge a new hole before we suddenly heard his voice once more.

" _Sergeant Roberts, capture everything you're seeing over your helmet's battle cam and send it back to us ASAP for analysis."_

I was pretty sure that I wasn't the only one who was blinking in confusion at that. It was true that our helmets also came equipped with hidden battle cameras that every soldier was able to use for strategic battlefield analysis during or after a firefight but it never once occurred to us that we could simply record all of our findings before sending it back to base.

Some fucking soldiers we were.

" _Roger that, Command, sending video feed back to base now."_

A couple minutes went by and not a single word was said over the comms. If I had to guess, I would've assumed that the techies back at base were watching the video feed right now and were just as equally stumped as were when we had first seen the woman in action. Despite how unbelievable as it was, I had to admit that seeing real life super powers outside of a movie was pretty damn amazing. It made me wonder if other people from this planet had the same abilities as the woman had.

"Hey, look over there!" I heard one of Polar squad's marines suddenly shout as we all turned our attention back towards the woman. As if realizing her attacks weren't doing shit against the hundred-foot tall armored monster, she ceased her attacks before making some kind of weird rising movement with her hands. Using my HUD's zoom optics, I was able to see her mouth move but couldn't tell when she was saying due to the distance between her and us.

"What the hell is she do-"

I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence before the ground beneath us started to shake. At first I thought that an earthquake was about to hit us before hundreds of large, thick spikes suddenly jutted out from beneath the concrete and completely encased the monster from head-to-toe in ice.

"What the hell?!" I heard Gorrey shout as we all ducked down into cover with our rifles raised, though we still made sure to keep our eyes on both the monster and the woman while doing so.

"D-Did she just completely freeze the thing in fucking _ice_?!" Miles yelled in slight fear as he gripped his rifle hard.

"T-This can't be real," I heard Polar's Sergeant, Jenkins, say. "There's no way this can be fucking real. There's absolutely no fucking way that that woman just froze a hundred foot monster into a fucking statue!"

"I'm either _really_ drunk off my ass or not drunk enough," Teague said in disbelief. "Cause now I _know_ that I'm seeing shit."

"All of you stick a fucking cork in it!" Sergeant Roberts yelled. "We're far enough away from both of them! Just keep your shit together and we'll all be-"

But I was no longer paying attention because something caught my eye.

Right after the monster had been frozen solid, the woman took that time turn around and duck behind a fallen building. I couldn't see what she was doing, but from what I was able to see, it looked as though the woman had lost a leg and was limping fast on some kind of crutch. She was heavily injured and was trying to outrun a demon? That definitely didn't bode well for her.

I was about to inform Roberts when I suddenly caught more movement. The woman was limping out from behind the destroyed building, but what she was carrying over her shoulders shocked me to my core.

She was carrying _kids._

"Holy shit," I said under my breath. "SARGE! SHE'S GOT FUCKING KIDS WITH HER!"

That seemed to stop everyone from flipping their shit on the spot as they suddenly turned their heads to look at the retreating woman. I couldn't see their expressions but I knew they were just as shocked as I was.

"Kids?!" Miles screamed as he turned to Roberts. "Sarge, we need to go help them! They could be injured or dying!"

"Hey, numb nuts! Didn't you here what the C.O. said?!" yelled Teague. "We're only supposed to recon the area, not get involved with Civvies!"

"Are you out of your fucking mind, Teague?!" Miles yelled back, appalled by the marine's response. "We can't just leave them here to die! Especially since that fucking monster could break out of that ice at any second!"

"You already got into enough shit by playing babysitter once, now you wanna get shitcanned a second time?!" Teague asked, getting in Miles' face. "If anyone's outta their damned mind it's you, Monroe!"

I decided to not pay any more attention to their argument. Mostly because I noticed the cracks that were starting to form on the face of the ice statue.

"Sir, that woman is missing a leg," Whales informed Roberts as she peered through the scope of her sniper rifle. "And from what I can see, it looks like the kids have also suffered some injuries as well."

"What should we do, Sarge?" Gorrey asked Roberts after choosing to remain silent through Miles and Teague's argument.

The Sarge stayed silent for a few moments before turning to address the rest of the squad. "We continue with the mission! Fall in and get ready to pull out before-"

Suddenly there was a bright flash that came from the statue before it hit near the area the woman was running from.

And then, as if struck by an oncoming missile, the entire area erupted into chaos. Debris flew everywhere and more fire consumed the already burning town. Shockwaves from the explosion rippled through the area like a tsunami and the loud screech that followed nearly made our ears bleed. It was like being back on Phobos all over again

But what made it even more horrifying was the fact that the woman and her two kids were sent flying into the air.

" _JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"_ I faintly heard Gorrey scream, though the ringing in my ears made it hard for me to do so. We all ducked down onto our bellies and waited for the nearby catastrophe to reach its end. Minutes went by and I could still feel the ground rumbling beneath my stomach. The pain in my head felt like a jackhammer was going into overdrive on my brain while my ears felt as though they were about to pop. My vision turned to double and I could faintly make out the outlines of my other squad mates who were also on their stomachs and yelling back and forth at each other. It took a few minutes for my hearing to get adjusted but when it did I was able to make out the Commander's voice over the comms.

"… _Boy, c-come in! Repeat, Slaughter Boy come in, damn it!"_

I saw Roberts coughing into his fist before going to his comms.

" _C-Command, this is Slaughter Actual! We read you, over! That fucking creature just lunched some kind of unknown explosive near that ice woman's position. Status remains unknown but she also had a pair of kids with her the time of the explosion. We don't know if either of them are alive or dead but it doesn't look good from over here! Requesting permission for search and rescue! Over!"_

" _Negative, Slaughter Actual, negative! That thing is still out there and presents huge threat to both you and Polar squad! You are ordered to regroup and retreat back to base effective immediately! Over!"_

" _Sir! With all due respect-"_

"Wait a second, look!" One of the marines from Polar squad shouted as he pointed towards the monster, who was now free from his icy prison and was slowly stomping in the opposite direction and away from the destroyed city, seemingly satisfied with the damage it had caused.

" _Command, it looks as though the creature moving away from the city and into the mountains. Requesting permission to continue with search and rescue."_

" _Absolutely not, Sergeant! Your orders still stand: return to base immediately or so help me God I will-"_

The radio suddenly went silent, making us all blink in confusion as slowly got to our knees with our rifles pointed towards the retreating back of the creature who continued to walk further and further away from the city as each minute passed by.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the radio suddenly came back to life, _"Slaughter Actual, this is Command. Disregard your last, I repeat: disregard your last. You have new orders: find and rescue the civvies if they're still alive and return back to base immediately. Newborn and his eggheads want to run some tests on them as soon as they're brought back. Seems your little video made quite the impression on them and are currently pulling their hair out in trying to figure out how that woman manipulated the ice. You have your orders, get back to base as soon as possible. Command out."_

As soon as the radio went silent, Miles began sprinting towards the epicenter of the explosion, no doubt eager to get to the civvies and make sure that they weren't dead.

"Private Monroe!" Sarge yelled as he and everyone else began running after him. "Get the fuck back here and fall in!"

"No time, Sarge!" Monroe said over his shoulder. "They could be dying for all we know! You heard the Commander, we need to get them out alive!" And with that he continued to run, no longer paying any attention to any of us.

"Goddamn kid's gonna get himself killed one of these days!" I heard Teague shout as he and everyone else got further away.

But I wasn't paying any more attention. Right now I was looking towards the direction where that demon had disappeared to over the mountain range. Somewhere deep inside me I knew that wasn't the last time we would be seeing it. Not by a longshot.

Though I did know that when that time came, we would be ready. Of that there was no doubt.

* * *

 **Personal ID: Pvt. Miles "Manslaughter" Monroe**

It was only thanks to his suit and the long years of training that he was able to run so fast, even with a full combat kit. Otherwise he would've been out of breath long before he even came close to their objective.

He didn't care though. When it came to saving people's lives, running out of breath was a small price to pay, especially when the people you're trying to save might be closer to death with every minute that passes by.

He soon found himself near the crater where the explosion had taken place but he didn't have time to gawk at the destruction nor did he pay attention to the large puddle of water he was currently standing in from all of the recently melted ice. That woman and her kids were still out here, somewhere, either laying in pile of broken glass and concrete or bleeding out somewhere on a nearby street. He checked his motion sensor and cursed when he could find any blips within its twenty-five meter radius. His legs stomped and skidded at the ground as he dodged and weaved between the numerous destroyed buildings. He could faintly hear the other cries of his squad mates but for now his mind was entirely on finding those civilians. Lord knows how many lethal injuries they must have suffered through that explosion, and though he didn't want it to happen, he wouldn't be surprised if one of them ended up losing an arm or a leg.

Such as the brutality when it comes to war.

He was about to turn and head into another direction when a faint blip suddenly appeared on his radar about ten meters to the east. Anxiety and combat instincts were kicked into overdrive as he made his way towards the blips location. Finally, after what seemed to be a year later he was able to hear the faint sound of coughing in the distance. He made a sharp left turn down a nearby street and gasped in horror as he saw the woman trapped under a large wooden support beam. Not even thinking twice, he ran to her and dropped his rifle on the ground before placing his hands under the beam and lifting it with every bit of strength he could muster. After a few seconds of struggling he was able to safely toss the beam aside without causing any more damage to the woman. He got down beside her on one knee before grabbing onto her shoulders and gently turning her onto her back. He breathed a sigh of relief as reviewed the woman's injuries. Luckily, apart from her torn clothes along with some cuts, scrapes and a nasty looking gash on her forehead, she seemed relatively okay. He winced when he caught sight of her right leg, which looked to have been cut off from below the knee but she didn't seem to be in any immediate danger of bleeding out.

With one last check to the woman's injuries, Miles put his hand up towards his ear and activated his comms, _"This is Private Monroe, I've located the woman about thirty meters from the crater. She has a few cuts and is missing a leg but she seems okay for now. Though it would still help a lot if she got some medical attention as soon as possible."_

" _Private Monroe, this is Sergeant Jenkins,"_ came the reply from Polar's squad leader. _"Good to hear from you. We've also managed to locate the two kids she was with. Both of them also seem to be in stable conditions besides some scrapes and a two-inch gash on one of the boy's legs. Our medic will be on route to your position after he heals these two. Command is also sending in five more squads with stretchers along with swarm of WASP drones for emergency escort back to base. They should be here in about a half hour tops, until then stay with her and make sure she remains stable."_

" _Roger than, Sergeant. I'll hold here for your medic. Just make sure he gets here quick, the woman is missing a leg and I don't exactly have the tools with me to cauterize a wound this severe."_

" _Wilco, Private. Jenkins out."_

Miles blew out another sigh of relief and got up to go fetch his rifle until a pained cough suddenly stopped him in his tracks.

"W-Who a-are you?" the woman asked as she stared through half-lidded eyes at his armored form.

Miles remained frozen for a second longer before he retracted his helmet into his armor, revealing his pale face along with his cropped blonde hair and sea-green eyes. With a careful smile he turned around and kneeled next to the woman's prone form.

"It's alright," he said softly. "We're here to help-"

His words suddenly died in his throat and his pale face got even paler as he finally got a good look at the woman's face.

Dark purple hair that reached just above her shoulders, purple eyes staring into his sea-green ones with pained confusion, small mouth, button nose, and slightly pale skin. All in all, this woman was an exact carbon copy of that little girl he had rescued not too long ago.

"U-Ultear?!" he asked in astonishment as he stared down at the injured woman, whose eyes went as wide as saucers at the mention of that name.

"W-What did you just s-say?!" she asked through pained gasps as she attempted to push herself up. "H-How do you know that name?! Where d-did you hear it?!"

"Ma'am, please!" Miles said urgently as he attempted to gently push the woman back down on the ground. "You're gravely injured and need immediate medical attention! Stay still!"

"N-No!" she yelled as she reach up and grasped Miles' arm with both of hers. "P-Please! I need to know! H-How do you know that name?!"

"Ma'am, please calm down! You're gonna injure yourself further if you keep moving around like that! Help is on the way but I need you to stay calm!"

"N-No! I can't! Y-You don't understand. I n-need to know! Where are my students?! Are they alive?! And h-how do you know my d-daughter's name?!"

"H-Hold on! Did you just say 'daughter'?! Ultear's your _daughter_?!" Miles was completely flabbergasted to say the least. What were the odds that he and his squad not only rescued girl but her _mother_ , as well? He was beginning to think that this was no mere coincidence.

"P-Please…" the woman said as her grip lightened around Miles' arm before going limp. "M-My students…G-Gray, Lyon…"

"Hey, come on! _Stay with my, damn it!_ "

But it was too late. His calls remained unheard as the woman fell into unconsciousness. Miles could only watch helplessly as Polar squad's medic finally arrived at the scene along with the rest of his squad.

* * *

The first thing she felt was warmth.

That was what first came into her mind the moment she had awoken. The second was the constant beeping of some sort of machine to her left. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep or where or when, but she did know how.

She had just escaped the evil place from all of the evil men who were torturing her, molding her into some kind of weapon or tool to be used whenever they saw fit. At first she had though that they were simple doctors trying to cure her of her sickness when in reality they were evil men who wanted to use her for evil things. They had said she was powerful, that she was unlike anything that they had ever seen before and they just _had_ to have her. They didn't care that she was only a child who wanted to go back home. They didn't care that she didn't want to be there. They didn't care how much she begged, pleaded, or cried. All they cared about was what was inside of her. They said they would help her control it. They lied. They said they would make her feel better. _They lied._

They said that after all of this was said and done, her mother would come back for her.

 _ **They lied.**_

They weren't the only ones. _**She**_ had lied as well. _**She**_ had said that she would be right back. _**She**_ had said that they would cure her, make the pain go away.

 _ **She**_ had told her she loved her.

And yet, after all of the hell she had been through. After she had finally escaped that prison and travelled for days on end just to get back to _**her**_ , she had finally made it back.

Only for _**her**_ to throw that love right back in her face by replacing her with two others.

That's all she was to _**her**_. That's all she ever was. A _replacement._

Not being able to hold them back any longer, she finally willed the tears to flow freely from out of her closed eyes. It wasn't _fair_. How could _**she**_ do that to her? Didn't she mean anything to _**her**_? Wasn't she _**her**_ daughter?

How could her own _**mother**_ do that to her?

"Ah, I see you've finally awoken."

Her tear-stained eyes snapped open and the first thing that greeted her was a smile that came from a nearby brown-haired man dressed in some kind of white coat, who was sitting cross-legged in a chair near the bead that she was currently lying on.

Now that she was able to get her bearings, she took a quick moment to glance around at the room she was in. The walls and ceiling were all dark blue in color except for the floor which was a clear marble white. The bed she was in was also white along with the chair the smiling man was sitting in as well as a nearby desk. She also noticed with a slight degree of fear the her left arm was currently hooked up to some sort of machine that was still continuing to make those strange beeping noises every few seconds.

All in all, it looked almost like the rooms that the evil men had kept her in.

"W-Who are you?" she asked with a small and timid voice that was laced with fear. For all she knew, she had been captured and brought back to the evil place.

The man simply continued to smile at her before slowly getting up off of his chair and folding his arms behind his back. "My name is Cameron Newborn, though you may simply call me Cameron if you wish."

 _Cameron Newborn?_ The name, indeed, sounded mysterious the more she thought about it. As far as she knew, she had never heard of anyone who had gone by such a strange name.

"W-Where am I?" If she was, indeed, back at the evil place, then she needed to find some other way to escape and fast.

"You are in a treatment facility. You were malnourished and almost contracted frostbite when we found you."

His words seemed to make her freeze up in terror. _Treatment Center._ That was exactly what the men in the evil place had said she was there for. _Treatment._

Newborn's sharp eyes noticed her momentary lapse in fear but didn't comment on it. He couldn't exactly blame a child for being scared when waking up in a strange and unfamiliar place. "Luckily your health wasn't life threatening so were able to warm you up and feed your body all of the necessary nutrients it needed while you were unconscious."

Of course they would keep her alive, she thought. They _needed_ her alive. A weapon can't function if it doesn't even work, after all.

"P-Please don't hurt me," she said as her lower lip trembled. "I-I didn't mean to run away. I promise I'll be good. Just p-please don't hurt me." Tears were now pouring out of her eyes as she sank further into the bed.

For a few moments, Newborn was stunned into silence. Wherever this girl had come from, she had obviously suffered a fair amount of abuse and attempted to escape. _'Must be the reason as to way she was wandering all alone in the snow. Now she thinks she's been captured again.'_

He fought down a sudden wave of anger before calmly smiling back down at the trembling girl. "Hey now," he said as softly as he could. "I'm not going to hurt you. I would _never_ even dream of hurting a child like you. I know you probably don't believe me, and that's completely understandable given your current situation, but we were only trying to save your life. You were very hurt and could've died had we not found you when we did. Do you really think we would've done all of that if we truly wanted to hurt you?"

 _No_ , she thought. But that didn't mean she had to believe him. The only reason he probably saved her life was so he could hurt her like all the others. No, she didn't believe him for even a second.

Seeing as how he wasn't getting through to her, Newborn sighed before heading towards the door. He grabbed the knob, but not before turning back to her once more. "If you won't listen to me, then perhaps you may listen to the man who rescued you. From what I've heard, he's on his way back here at this very moment with someone who he says knows you very well. I believe he said that she's your mother."

And with that said, he walked through the door before closing it behind him.

Back in the room, the girl known as Ultear was sitting straight up while staring at the door, her small, tear-stained eyes inconceivably wide with both shock disbelief, along with a hint of anger.

* * *

 _The future is ever-changing._

 _Nothing is ever set in stone._

* * *

" _KEEP UP THE FIRE! KNOCK THOSE FUCKERS OUTTA THE SKY!"_

 _Missiles, rockets, bullets, energy beams, every single projectile that was capable of traveling through the air was currently being aimed towards the sky. Dozens upon dozens of the winged beasts fell out of the air like the fallen angels of old after being cast out of heaven. Two to ten-thousand pound corpses riddled with holes plummeted into the ground like bloody meteorites, destroying anything that was unlucky enough to be caught in their path. Houses were collapsed, buildings were demolished, and the streets were filled to the brim with craters which acted as gravesites for the winged demons. Not only that, but debris from every destroyed building also littered the streets like a minefield of destruction while fire from the bowels of hell itself swept up and consumed every inch of the destroyed city, which caused plumes of pitch black smoke to rise up into the air in waves. This didn't once deter the monsters flying above, however, as they continued to lay waste to everything they could find._

 _The unholy explosions of the hundreds of guns and missiles completely drowned out the sound of anguished cries and screeches of terror from what remained of the city's populace. Thousands of innocents were being evacuated from the city as quickly as possible, though it was almost a futile effort considering the hundreds of dragons that were still raining hellfire down below. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blaze were slowly roasted and burned alive as, their agonizing screams fell on deaf ears as their skin was seared off their bones._

 _It was truly a scene straight out of hell itself._

" _COME ON, COME ON!" yelled the soldier as he loaded another magazine into his machine gun. "WE NEED TO GET THESE FUCKING CIVVIES OUTTA HERE AS FAST AS WE CAN! WE'VE ALREADY LOST A SHIT TONE TO THESE FUCKING THINGS! WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE ANYMORE!" He let loose a loud bellow as he fired his gun into the sky. "LET'S GO, YOU GODDAMN LIZARDS! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?! I'VE SEEN MATCHSTICKS DO MORE DAMAGE THAN YOU!"_

 _As if in response to his challenge, one of the dragons unleashed a large fireball onto a nearby Humvee, instantly destroying it and vaporizing all of the occupying marines inside of it._

" _SON OF A FUCKING_ _ **BITCH**_ _!" the soldier screamed in anger before running to cover in a nearby halfway destroyed house. "ANVIL 1, THIS IS OBSIDIAN 4-2, THE LZ IS HOT AS ALL FUCK, WE NEED AIR SUPPORT AND WE NEED IT RIGHT GODDAMN NOW!"_

" _Obsidian 4-2, this is Anvil 1, all available air support units are either shot down or assisting with the evacuation on the outskirts of the kingdom. We have no way of getting any available air units too you until the evacuation is complete."_

" _YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING_ _ **SHITTING**_ _ME!" the soldier screamed in outrage. "WE'VE STILL GOT AROUND A THOUSAND OR SO CIVVIES TRAPPED IN THIS FUCKING HELLHOLE AND BARELY ENOUGH GROUND SUPPORT TO COVER THEM ALL! YOU HEAR THIS SHITSTORM THAT'S GOING ON BEHIND ME RIGHT NOW?! WE'RE ALL GONNA FUCKING DIE DOWN HERE UNLESS YOU GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR AND SEND US SOME FUCKING SUPPORT_ _ **ASAP**_ _!"_

" _Obsidian 4-2, there are still hundreds of those things flying all over the kingdom. If we send in any more air units they'll be wiped before they even have a chance to mount a proper counterattack."_

" _YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A SINGLE AIRCRAFT IN THAT STARSHIP UP THERE THAT CAN OUTFLY A FUCKING DRAGON?! WHAT THE FUCK IS OUR GOVERNMENT EVEN PAYING YOU RETARDS FOR, ANYWAY?!"_

" _All available Surface-to-Space aircraft are currently engaged with the remaining Alliance Fleet. Sorry Obsidian 4-2, you'll just have to wait it out until reinforcements arrive."_

" _ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?! ARE YOU COMPLETELY-FUCKING-GODDAMN-_ _ **SERIOUS**_ _RIGHT NOW?! WE. ARE GOING. TO._ _ **DIE**_ _! FUCK!" the soldier through his arms up before running back outside, only to watch in horror as a straggling family of four were suddenly engulfed in flames. One of them had only been an infant._

 _All around the kingdom, people continued to die. Humvees, Tanks, Mechs, Anti-Air vehicles, it didn't matter how much firepower was put into the sky, more and more dragons seemingly appeared out of thin air and continued to rain death wherever they flew. All around the soldier, more and more people were dying and there wasn't a damn thing he or any other soldier could do about it._

" _This is a nightmare," he said to himself as he sprinted towards the evacuation sight. "This is a fucking nightmare and I can't wake up."_

 _A deep, monstrous bellow suddenly came from behind and the soldier spun around and saw that one of the dragons had spotted him and was in the process of bullet-diving towards him with its jaws wide open. Apparently the giant lizard was preparing to make him its next meal._

" _Okay," the soldier said quietly before squaring his feet and glaring at the oncoming beast. "OKAY! I'M READY, MOTHERFUCKER! HOW 'BOUT YOU?!"_

 _His pulled the trigger and his machine gun roared to life, all while letting out a roar that was equally as ferocious as the dragon's. The some bullets struck the dragon's hide while mostly simply whizzed past it. The bullets didn't seem to deter the dragon in the slightest, however, as it continues to dive towards the screaming marine. It seemed as though the marine's fate was sealed until a nearby voice cried out._

" _ **ÂGE SCRATCH!**_ _"_

 _Suddenly dozens of what appeared to be giant clock hands materialized out of thin air before shooting towards the dragon at a high velocity. Like the equivalent of spears through flesh, the clock hands pierced the dragon's scales as if they were made of paper. Blood seeped out of the dragon's wounds as it lost control of itself before plummeting straight towards the marine. With the speed at which it was falling and how dangerously close it was, there was no way for him to be able to move in time._

" _ **ÂGE SEAL!**_ _"_

 _Time, however, seemed to be on his side as everything around him suddenly came to a grinding halt as if someone had hit the pause button on a video game. Fires were frozen in place, falling building debris halted, and the dragons, including the one that was about to fall on him seemingly stopped in midair. By all accounts anyone in this situation would've been terrified or shocked beyond belief._

 _He, however, was simply annoyed. As he, himself, had more than enough experience with this type of magic._

 _Too much experience._

" _Well, well," came a snarky feminine voice that he knew all too well. Turning around, he saw blonde woman slowly walking up to him with an arrogant smirk on her lips along with one of her arms, which was covered completely in gold armor, planted firmly on her hip. The smirk only increased as she came up to him before trailing her unarmored finger on his chest. "I'm only gone for an hour and already you almost managed to get yourself killed? I'm starting to think you'd be absolutely useless without my help."_

 _The soldier growled before shoving her hand away. "What the fuck are you doing her, woman? I told you to hang back and assist with the evacuation!"_

 _The woman frowned before sashaying her way around the soldier. "Geeze, and here I thought you'd actually be excited to see me. You know I don't do this for just anyone," her eyes narrowed. "And you're welcome by the way, you ungrateful ass."_

" _Tell you what, I'll start being grateful to you after this fucking war is over. But don't think for a fucking second that I'm owing you any favors for this. You still owe me one after that stunt you pulled in Alvarez."_

" _Oh, don't lie and say that you didn't enjoy it," she purred sensually before wrapping her arms around the soldier's neck. "After all, you saw a lot more skin than I was willing to show to anybody. And that's only because you're my favorite." The soldier shivered slightly as she reached up and gave his ear a little nibble before pulling back and began walking towards the partially destroyed castle in the distance. Despite not falling for any of her advances, he couldn't help but admire the way her voluptuous rear end swayed from side to side, especially in that skintight suit she was wearing. "Now, shall we deal with the rest of these pesky lizards so that I can finally have you all to myself, or are you just going to stand there and keep staring at my ass all day?"_

 _The soldier blushed before shaking it off and holstering his gun. He quickly jogged his way towards the woman's side before falling into step with her, all while trying his very best to ignore the suggestive smirk and glances she was sending his way._

* * *

 _When worlds collide._


	3. Chapter 3

" _If there is one thing that the Water Wars has taught us it's that, when put into a desperate situation, people will do whatever they can in order to achieve their desires, no matter who or what gets in their way. That's what's so scary about desperation: even the most well-mannered saints can turn into the most savage of beasts if they are pushed too far."_

-Excerpt from Remy Leroux's text _'From Earth to Phobos: How Water became Humanity's downfall.'_

 **Chapter 3: _A_ _Family of Ice_** _ **, Further Expansion**_

 **Personal ID: Sgt. Franklyn Roberts**

"What the hell are we looking at here, Newborn?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more patient, Sergeant. Contrary to popular belief, not _all_ of our equipment is able to work instantaneously."

Roberts crossed his arms over his armored chest and grunted in annoyance while looking over at the purple haired woman lying on the bed. She was still unconscious even after the hour long hike all the way from the destroyed city back to basecamp. Shortly after they arrived, they had brought woman and the two kids back through the portal where they had immediately been taken to nearby treatment rooms for healing and recuperation. Though unfortunately, Newborn and his eggheads were quite eager to run scans on all three of them while they were being treated, mostly in order to figure out just how the hell the woman was able to manipulate the ice the way she did while also seeing if the two boys were also able to accomplish the same feat.

Currently the woman was lying in bed a foot away from the two gentlemen. Her damaged clothes had long since been removed in favor of a traditional hospital gown which also covered the numerous gauze and bandages that were wrapped around most of her torso along with both of her arms. A large bandage had also been placed over her forehead in order to treat the nasty gash she had received due to landing in a pile of debris after that demon had nearly blasted her about twenty feet into the air. Honestly, she was lucky to even be alive after going through such an ordeal, especially when she had a pair of kids on her shoulders.

The worst part of it, however, had been her leg. The ice crutch that she had been using had melted off long before they got her back to the base, leaving nothing but bloody and nearly frozen stump. Ironically, the ice had managed to slow down the bleeding tremendously so a few thick layers of gauze were thankfully able to prevent what little blood had been pouring out of the wound.

Sadly the bandages were the only things that were currently on her person. Various wires and tubes had been connected to her arms, legs, and torso, which in turn, were either hooked up to medical machines, blood bags, or pouches full of pain killers.

All in all, the woman looked like one huge science experiment waiting to go wrong. Roberts had an inkling suspicions that that was the only reason as to way Newborn wanted her and the two boys brought back alive.

"Patience isn't exactly my strong suit, Newborn, considering who I work with." Roberts said as he narrowed his eyes at the scientist, who was practically ignoring him in favor of staring at a nearby terminal. "Can you at least tell me what you're gonna do with her and those kids? I hope you didn't have us bring them all the way back here just so you could cut them open," he added with a bit of warning in his tone.

Newborn sighed before turning back to look at the Sergeant with slight annoyance. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Sergeant. And no, I'm not going to 'cut them open' as you so delicately put it. I simply wish to study them in order to get a full read on those mysterious abilities that you and your men were lucky enough to witness firsthand."

"Tch, don't remind me. I'm still having trouble wrapping around the whole thing. First giant monsters, then superpowers? What's next, dragons and elves?"

"I sure hope not, Sergeant. We're already having enough trouble harvesting enough resources for an entire planet. Best not to focus on the negatives for now."

Roberts shrugged his shoulders before walking over towards the bed and peering down at the woman. Despite the various amount of injuries she had sustained, she seemed to be recovering just fine. An oxygen mask had been hooked up to her face and the steady rise and fall of her chest indicated the she was breathing normally. He momentarily wondered if the two other kids were in any better shape.

Speaking of kids. "How's that little girl that Monroe found doing, by the way?"

"You'll be happy to know that she's made a full and healthy recovery." Newborn said as he continued to look at the monitor. "Due to the nutrients and fluids we had to inject into, she should be back to her normal strength in a few day tops." Newborn paused before brushing a hand over his hair and sighing. "Physically, she's perfectly fine. Mentally, however, is still up for debate."

Roberts raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'up for debate'? What's wrong with her?

"I mean that as soon as she saw me when she woke up, she shrunk into the bed in absolute fear and looked about ready to cry on the spot. Then she said she was 'sorry' before pleading for me to not hurt her and that she 'didn't mean to escape' and that she would 'be a good girl from now on.'" He sighed again. "It's quite obvious from her reactions that, wherever it is she came from, she has suffered a substantial amount of abuse, both physically and mentally even though we never found any injuries on her skin."

Roberts' knuckles turned white while he grinded his teeth together in barely restrained anger. He took a few moments to calm himself down before continuing. "You think it could've been her mother?"

Newborn shook his dead. "While that may be anyone's first assumption, there are several key factors that suggest otherwise. The first being her fearful reaction towards seeing me. That second was the way she tried to hide herself after I told her that she was inside a treatment facility. Both of these points suggest that her abuser was someone with a medical or scientific profession. And considering the enormous amount of unknown energy we found inside her body after we found her, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was holding her hostage while trying to experiment on her. This also leads as to why she was wandering out in the snow in the middle of nowhere wearing nothing but a hospital gown. She obviously tried to escape from whomever was holding her in captivity." He held up a finger. "Let's also not forget her mother's reaction to Private Monroe's mentioning of her daughter's name. From what he told us after he had found her, she seemed very adamant on figuring out how he knew her daughter's name while at the same time constantly questioning him on her whereabouts, which leads us to believe that she had obviously been searching for her. So we can assume that the girl was probably taken against her own will."

"Jesus," Roberts muttered as her looked back towards the woman. "No wonder she was so hellbent on interrogating Miles. Probably thought her daughter was dead or something." The morbid thought made him think of his own daughter, sending a shiver down his spine. To think that even on other planets there were sick fucks out there who got their kicks off of kidnapping innocent children. The thought made his blood boil. If anyone had done the same to his daughter, there wouldn't be a single force on heaven, hell, or earth that would've been able to stop him from finding the fuckers and ripping their guts out before beating them to death with them. Anyone who did shit like that didn't deserve a shred of anything even resembling mercy.

Though he had disobeyed orders, on the inside, Roberts was proud of Miles. The kid had a tendency to do the stupidest shit sometimes but his heart was always in the right place. Always doing his best to protect innocent people even if it resulted in him disobeying orders and getting in massive amounts of trouble. Still, Roberts was glad to have someone like him on his squad and hoped that the kid would continue to follow his heart even if some people disproved of the way he went about it.

Speaking of his youngest squad mate, "Where is the kid anyway? Last I saw him he was helping the medics get the lady here adjusted before wondering off again."

Though he couldn't see it, Newborn gave a light smirk. "I believe he said that he was finally going to introduce himself to our recently awakened ward."

* * *

 **Down the hall a few rooms away.**

"…and so we quickly made our way to the big starship before blasting our way into space! The bad guys were right on our tail but luckily Andrew over there is a crack shot when it comes to blasting spaceships outta the sky! The bad guys stood no chance as they were all blown to fiery bits! Because of that, everyone was able to get out safely without a single scratch!"

"Really? 'Cause I seem to remember you balling your eyes out after getting shot in the leg."

"…Okay so most of everyone got out without a scratch, but at least no one died!"

" _That is incorrect, Private Monroe. There was an estimate of 157 fatalities-"_

"Not in front of the kid, Nine-Oh-Four!"

"I also seem to remember Gorrey missing _quite_ a bit of those so-called 'crack shots.' The gun was already halfway outta ammo before he even landed a single hit."

"Oh, go blow it out your ass-"

" _Language!"_

To say that Ultear was stumped was to say that it was cold in the Arctic Ocean; a complete understatement. Currently inside her room and sitting around her bed were some of the strangest people she had ever met in her entire life, and that was also a dramatic understatement. About an hour after the scary man in white had left her room, the tall blonde man in armor who had saved her life had come in and had introduced himself as Miles Monroe. _Another strange name_ , she thought. Not only that, but four other people who he had said were part of his _squad_ (whatever that was) had also come in and had introduced themselves. Them being a man with dark brown hair named David Cormac, a ponytailed woman named Jennifer Whales, and another man with a small scar on his right cheek named Andrew Gorrey.

The strangest, and quite possibly - in her opinion - the scariest looking individual was the last member of their squad who looked like some kind of grinning demon made completely out of metal along with a pair of glowing green eyes. It - _he_ \- didn't have a name but instead a simple alias that Miles had said was Nine-Oh-Four, "said with words instead of numbers" he told her. She had nearly screamed at the first sight of him but was quickly and calmly reassured by Miles that he meant no harm. Though that didn't stop her from sinking a little further into her bed and quickly averting her eyes whenever he looked in her direction.

Like Nine-Oh-Four, she had initially been distrustful of the other three squad members. The only reason she hadn't been afraid of Miles was because she had been able to recognize his face from when he had saved her. Though some reassurances from Miles, along with some intense but fascinating stories about the squad's past adventures had eventually been able to bring her out of her shell in the end. However, she still took great care to avoid eye contact with Nine-Oh-Four as much as possible.

Though the robot's demonic looking appearance was soon pushed to the back of her mind when she stared back up a Miles, who was sitting on a chair to her left, and was still chastising his squad mates for their vulgarity.

"Seriously, haven't any of you morons been around kids before? You can't just go around saying dumb shi- _stuff_ like that in front of children-"

"Mister Miles?"

The voice was so soft that it may as well have been a whisper, but Miles and everyone else were close enough to the bed to hear her anyway, which caused them all to immediately pause in their ensuing argument to look back towards her. The amount of attention she suddenly received was enough to make her blush and look down in embarrassment. However her embarrassment was short lived when a soft, yet calloused hand reached under her chin and gently lifted her head back up, in which her widened eyes were suddenly met with a pair of deep green ones as Miles gave her a warm smile.

"Just Miles is fine, kid. We're all friends here. Even the satanic tin can over there is pretty chill once you get to know him." Cormac and Whales both chuckled as he gestured over to Nine-Oh-Four, who simply remained silent as he stared back at Miles.

Blushing harder, Ultear shifted her gaze back down as her grip on her bed sheets tightened. "Miles," she whispered. The name sounded so foreign to her, yet it also confused her. Why any parent would name their child after a unit of measurement was beyond her.

She shook her head of the thoughts. Now was not the time to debate the concept of foreign names. She still had questions that needed answering. So it was with greater confidence that she stared back up at Miles' green eyes with a look of slight anticipation.

"Miles, then. Are you really from space? Does that mean that you came from another planet?" her question was blunt and straight to the point. Her tone of voice was also less soft and more sturdy. The sudden change in the girl's attitude made everyone besides Nine-Oh-Four blink in surprise. The fact that this young girl could go from meek and timid to serious and focused made them all slightly uneased considering that she had almost died. The fact that she had also blatantly asked if they were from another planet was also a cause for concern. After all, it wasn't like they could just outright tell her that they were actually from another dimension.

Ultear's sharp eyes immediately noticed that Miles, Cormac, and Whales shared a quick glance between one another while Nine-Oh-Four's attention was now focused solely on her. Miles cleared his throat before looking back towards Ultear.

"Well, Ulty," Ultear's eyebrows scrunched in confusion at the nickname. "I guess technically, you _could_ say that we're from space. We did, indeed, come from another planet, but it's a little bit more complicated than that."

"What do you mean? You said that you and your _squad_ were from space, so that means that you're from another planet, right?"

"Well, yes but what I'm trying to say is that we're not _just_ from another planet." _Shit, this is going from zero to a hundred real fast. How the hell are you supposed to explain to an elementary schooler that you're from another dimension? Really wish Newborn was here right about now. On second thought, never mind. He'd just find a way to make things even more confusing._

Thankfully he was spared from having to give the girl a long and confusing explanation from Whales, who decided she had enough fun in seeing her squad mate suffer. "So cutie," she said as Ultear shifted her gaze towards her. "We didn't get a chance to tell you the good news, did we? Well we think we may have found your mother. Isn't that great?" she asked as she, Cormac, and Miles gave her anticipated grins, obviously waiting for the girl to either jump up in excitement or cry tears of joy.

What they got, however, was not the reaction they were expecting.

If possible, Ultear's skin had gone noticeably paler than it already was. Sweat started to pour down her forehead while her entire body started to shake. Her grip on her bed covers tightened to the point where her knuckles were bone white. But the most notable change was her eyes. The feeble and meek warmth that was in her eyes was instantly replaced with a cold and empty gaze, as if they were the eyes belonging to a corpse.

The lights flickered on and off as a cold chill began to set into the room.

The four squad members silently debated whether or not it was a good idea to have left their weapons behind.

* * *

 **Forward Operating Base**

"So you're saying that the entire town was destroyed by the time you got there?"

"Yes, sir. The massive, uh, _organism_ had already done more than enough damage to the entire area before it retreated back into the mountains. Luckily the entire town seemed to have been evacuated before the damn thing showed up and went ape-shit. Well, _mostly_ evacuated, sir."

General Tiberius nodded his head at that. "Yes, you did mention that. You say that Slaughter Boy were the ones to find the woman and the two boys?"

"Correct, sir. The woman sustained major injuries and is currently being treated in the intensive care ward back in the laboratory. Two soldiers are also keeping her under guard at all times. Newborn thought it was necessary considering the _unknown_ abilities she somehow displayed while fighting the creature."

 _That's putting it lightly_ Tiberius thought grimly. In fact, it was a downright understatement. The reports and video feeds he had gotten from the WASP drones had almost been enough to drink himself into a stupor. Giant horned monsters that shot out laser beams? A woman that was somehow able to control and manipulate ice? Kids with white hair? Just what the hell kind of upside down fantasy world had Newborn sent them to?

Tiberius sighed and shook his head in exasperation. During times like these it was better to not ask too many questions or else they would just keep piling on and on until it drove him crazy. He focused his attention back on Sergeant Maxwell Jenkins, the man in charge of Polar squad who had also aided Slaughter Boy back in the town. "And how are those two boys fairing?"

"Besides some minor scrapes and cuts, Newborn says that they should be fine in the long run. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they suffered some emotional trauma after everything they've been through."

"The fact that all three of them were able to survive in the first place is a miracle itself. Just what the hell were they even doing there in the first place?"

"Hard to know, sir. Maybe the woman is the two boys' mother? It's possible that the two somehow got left behind and it was simply a case of a mother wanting to protect her children."

"Well one thing we do know is that we won't be able to learn anything until she wakes up. Make sure that at least two guards are posted outside her room at all times. And make sure that they let us know the second she wakes up. The sooner we know more about this planet the better."

Jenkins straightened his posture and gave the General a hard salute. "Yes, sir!"

"Also Sergeant, I want you and your squad to provider extra security detail for the construction crews I'm planning to send to the town."

Jenkins raised an eyebrow at that. "Not that it's a problem, sir, but may I ask why?"

"Well considering the fact that the entire place is destroyed and deserted, we're planning to clean it out so that we can construct a larger base and develop and stronger foothold on this planet. A bigger base means we can build a motor pool for more vehicles and hopefully an airfield so we can get more eyes in the sky. The fact that the entire town is also mostly secluded means we hopefully won't have any prying eyes. That's where your squad comes in. We aren't taking any chances when it comes to threats, especially after that creature just got done razing the damn place to the ground. Take your squad and help sweep the area. We'll also have a swarm of WASP drones providing air support in case things shit hits the fan again. If something does happen I want you and the other squads to evacuate the construction team and hightail it back here as quickly as possible."

"We'll be sure to do our best, General." Jenkins said with a nod. "Just one thing though, sir. What if by chance we happen to run into more humans?"

Tiberius folded his hands behind his back and stared down at the ground, a grim expression on his face. "I was hoping to avoid any contact with local primitives but it looks like Slaughter Boy and Newborn have already thrown that suggestion straight out the proverbial window considering the number of strays they've already dropped into our hands. Since the damage has already been done, I guess it can't be helped. If, by some miracle, you do happen to run into any other humans, do whatever it takes to keep them away from the base. Do not, however, engage with any lethal force unless you're certain they pose a threat. Lord knows the last thing we need are civilians getting shot because of misunderstandings. Do I make myself clear, Sergeant?"

"Crystal, sir!"

"Good, gather your squad and get yourselves ready. The rest of the troops will be moving out within the hour."

Jenkins gave one last salute before making his way towards the makeshift barracks that was setup near the portal. He wasn't able to make it far, however, as a he suddenly spotted a soldier to his left who sprinted out of the portal a nearly knocked him over.

"Hey, watch where the fuck you're going, trooper!"

The soldier ignored him and quickly made his way over to Tiberius, who heard the commotion and was staring at the soldier in confusion. The man slid to a stop and snapped him a quick solute that the General returned.

"What seems to be the problem, son?"

"It's the purple haired woman that Slaughter Boy brought in, sir. She's woken up."

Tiberius' eyes widened. "Shit, now of all times? Did you inform Newborn?"

"Yes, sir. He and Privates Hudson and Reynolds are trying to keep her calm but it appears she's very adamant on trying to find her kids. The doctors found her trying to crawl out of her bed. Luckily they were able to stabilize her before things got too crazy but she's still desperate to make sure her kids are alright."

Tiberius muttered some curses under his breath. "Dammit, I thought we'd have more time. Alright, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Go inform Newborn that I'll be there in a few minutes. Let him know that I want her stable enough for questioning."

The soldier saluted. "I'll get it done right away, sir."

"See that you do, son."

The soldier made his way back through the portal. Tiberius shook his head and went back to directing the rest of the troops. First monster attacks and now this? And worst of all it wasn't even morning yet. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Hopefully once he was done he would be passed out in bed with half a bottle of whiskey burning in his stomach.

* * *

 **Newborn's Lab, separate recovery room.**

"Please, you don't understand! I _**need**_ to see her!"

"Ma'am, _for the last time_ , you're in no condition to be getting out of bed! You have multiple lacerations and are missing a damn _**leg**_!"

" _ **I don't care! I know that you have my daughter and I demand that you let me see her!"**_

"I don't give a flying _**fuck**_ who or where your daughter is! You are severely injured and will stay on that damn bed or _**so help me God**_ I will not hesitate to put your fucking lights out!"

"I'd like to see you try, you cold hearted son of a bitch!"

" _ **Enough."**_

Both the woman and the soldier ceased their yelling as they looked towards Newborn, who was currently standing near the door with his hands clasped behind his back and was staring at both occupants with barely concealed annoyance.

"Private Reynolds," he addressed the soldier. "While I appreciate the effort in making sure Miss Ur stays in her bed, threatening to 'put her lights out' will prove to be more of a hindrance than help. Therefore I politely request that you refrain from inflicting any bodily harm on her."

Reynolds scoffed derisively before making his way out of the room. "Whatever, Newborn. You seem to have the bitch under control so me and Hudson will leave her to you." Before he left he took a moment to look over his shoulder and give Ur a mocking grin. "Though if she starts acting up again, don't hesitate to call me."

" _What was that?"_ she growled. Suddenly the room's lights began to flicker as her magical energy began building up.

Sensing the incoming danger, Newborn was quick to try and remedy the situation. "Thank you, Private Reynolds, you may leave now." The soldier chuckled and gave him a mock salute before closing the door behind him.

"Jackass," Ur scowled before crossing her arms over her chest. The lights ceased their flickering as her magic returned to normal. She then set her violet eyes on Newborn, who grabbed a nearby chair and made his way over to her. He stopped, however, as she suddenly held up a hand. "While I thank you for getting your rid of your annoying guard dog, that doesn't mean that I trust you. Just who the hell are you people? How am I still alive? And more importantly, _where the hell are my kids?"_

The lights once again began to flicker, but Newborn was far from scared.

"Who we are is a little bit hard to explain, but rest assured that we don't mean you or your kids any harm," he said in a calm tone. Ur raised an eyebrow at him but didn't lower her guard. "I would also like to apologize for Private Reynolds' behavior. Some of the soldiers tend to boast their bravado where it's not needed. As for how you're still alive? Well you're lucky that we were able to find you when we did. As you can already tell, you suffered numerous injuries including the loss of your right leg. Luckily a squad of our soldiers were able to find you and your two boys not long after that large creature disappeared."

Ur widened her eyes at that. "Large creature? You mean Deliora?!"

" _Deliora?_ So that's what that creature is called?" Newborn asked in surprise.

Ur nodded her head. "Yes, but he isn't just any normal monster. He's an Etherious Demon created by the Black Wizard _**Zeref**_."

"A _Demon_?" Newborn had been expecting many things, but even he had to admit that the woman's explanation had been completely out of left field. "I hope you excuse my skepticism, Miss Ur, but a _demon_? Granted they are mentioned a lot in ancient myths and legends, but that's all they are; _myths._ Are you sure that it wasn't something else? Maybe some sort animal that was thought to be extinct?"

Ur simply stared back at Newborn with a look that said 'are you stupid?' "Listen, _doctor_ , I know what I saw. That _thing_ was no 'extinct animal' as you so kindly put it, because last time I checked, no normal animal is fifty feet tall and is able to destroys entire cities with just its bare hands."

"And last time _I_ checked, Miss Ur, no demon is able to shoot out highly concentrated beams of pure energy out of their mouths that rival the destructive capabilities of an ICBM."

Ur had no idea what an 'ICBM' was but chose to ignore it. Instead she let out an amused snort. "I've learned that nothing is considered _normal_ whenever Zeref is involved."

"You've mentioned that name twice now. Who exactly is this _Zeref_ person?"

Now Ur was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. "What do you mean 'who is Zeref?' He was the most notoriously evil wizard in all of Earthland! How the hell could you not know who he is?"

"As you can probably tell, my associates and I aren't exactly from around here. So we don't exactly have any knowledge on your urban legends."

Ur snorted in amusement. "Well you must really be a long way from home if you don't even know who Zeref is. Speaking of which, where _are_ you from anyway? Judging by your clothes you're obviously some sort of doctor, yet I don't recognize the uniforms of any of your soldiers. Are they apart of some special branch of the Rune Knights? Or are the some sort of private military organization hired by the Magic Council?"

 _Rune Knights? Magic Council? Interesting._ Newborn filed the names away for later. He didn't want to go around revealing certain information to the woman that she had no business hearing, or else he'd never hear the end of it from Tiberius. "We'll try to answer what we can in due time. However, I believe that you wanted to know how your children are doing?"

Ur's color drained from her face as she realized she had momentarily forgotten about Gray and Lyon. _And my daughter!_ "Oh my God, are they alright?! Please tell me they're safe! And my daughter! _Please_ tell me you have my daughter!"

Newborn put up his hands in attempt to calm the distraught woman. "Please remain calm, Miss Ur. Yes, your two boys are indeed safe and are currently healing in separate rooms. As for your daughter…well she _is_ safe but…"

"But what?! What's wrong with her?!"

Newborn sighed before once again pulling up a chair and sitting down near the bed. "While she's fine and healing physically, I'm afraid the same can't be said for her mental health."

Now Ur was getting hysteric. "What do you mean _her mental health_?! You know what, never mind! Just shut the hell up and take me to her already!"

He sighed and prepared himself, knowing this would likely bite him in the proverbial ass. "I'm afraid I can't, Miss Ur."

This time the room's lights shut off completely. Then one of the monitors Ur was hooked up to began to beep more intensely.

" _And why the hell not?"_

Newborn simply stared back into her eyes. "Because she doesn't want to see you. Nor does she want anything to do with you."

As if unconsciously using her magic, Ur froze on the spot. Though the lights were off, Newborn could see a faintest sign of tears leaking out of her wide eyes.

" _What?"_ her voice was barely above a whisper.

Newborn sighed before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped under his chin. This was going to take a while.

* * *

 _ **Ultear's Room, one hour before.**_

" _You found my mother?"_

 _Ultear's voice was as dead as her eyes. The sound of it greatly unnerved the present squad members of Slaughter Boy, even Nine-Oh-Four's posture seemed to suggest that even he was on edge. The fact that the lights in the room were seemingly going haywire for no reason was also a huge cause for concern._

 _Though he was slightly freaked out by Ultear's sudden change in demeanor, Miles fixed the girl with a nervous smile before gently putting her hand on her small shoulder._

" _That's right, Ulty! We saved her after she got attacked from a big scary monster. And it turns out that she's been looking for you! Isn't that great?"_

" _No."_

 _Now Miles was completely shocked. Why wouldn't she be excited at seeing her mother again? "W-What do you mean, kid? Didn't you hear me? Your mother's been looking for you! She was really worried about you! Why the heck wouldn't you be excited to see her?"_

 _Slowly, Ultear shifted her empty gaze towards Miles. "Because she abandoned me. She left me to die."_

" _What?" exclaimed Whales in a shocked voice, though there was also a hint of anger to it. "What do you mean she abandoned you? Why the hell would she do that?"_

" _Because she doesn't care about me. She never did." Tears started to pour down her eyes as her lips began to quiver. "S-She left m-me behind and t-then replaced me."_

" _Replaced you?" Cormac asked incredulously. Suddenly hid eyes widened in realization. "You mean those two boys that were with her? You think she replaced you with them?"_

 _Ultear said nothing, only nodding as more tears escaped her eyes. Her small sniffles may has well have been as loud as gunshots considering how quiet the room was at the moment. Whales, deciding she couldn't take seeing Ultear like this anymore, quickly got up and engulfed the girl in gentle embrace. Ultear's body soon racked with quiet sobs as her head rested on Jennifer's shoulder._

" _Look, this is obviously just a big misunderstanding," Cormac said softly. "Once your mother wakes up we can take you to go see her and-"_

" _NO!" Ultear shouted, making everyone in the room jump at her raised voice. "I don't want to see her! I don't want to see her EVER AGAIN!" her sobbing only increased in volume as her entire body shook like a leaf._

 _Whales, Miles, and Cormac could do nothing but stare at each other in silence. Nine-Oh-Four simply continued to stare at Ultear's sobbing form._

" _David," Miles said softly as he turned towards Cormac, who looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Could you go and get Newborn? I think we should let him know about this._

 _Cormac nodded before getting up and silently leaving the room. Meanwhile, Miles and Whales simply sat on the bed and continued to comfort the crying girl in somber silence._

* * *

 **Ur's Room, current time.**

To say that Ur was having mixed emotions was a dramatic understatement. On one hand, she was relieved and overjoyed that her daughter was alive and safe. The one person who was more important to her than anything else in the world had been alive this whole and she never knew it. Which was unfortunately the reason why she was also absolutely disgusted with herself. Her daughter was _alive_ and she never knew. Those _monsters_ at the Bureau of Magical Development had lied to her, told her that her daughter was dead, _and she_ _ **believed**_ _them._ That thought alone almost made her vomit self-disgust. They lied to her face and she believed it without putting up a single fight. And now her own daughter _**hated**_ her because of her own stupidity. And she knew that she deserved it.

Newborn said nothing, simply sitting back and watching the wide range of emotions playing out on the woman's face. It wasn't like there was anything he _could_ say. He wasn't a therapist by any means but even he knew better than to try to cheer someone else up with false comfort.

With nothing else left to say, he simply sighed before getting up and making his way towards the door. He would give the distraught woman some privacy before checking up on her later.

However, before he could grab the doorknob, she suddenly uttered something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Take me to her."

Newborn turned and looked back towards her with a raised eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. _Take me to my daughter._ "

He ran his hand down his face. "Miss Ur, I already told you-"

"Enough with the 'Miss' crap already," she hissed. "And I know what you told me, _**I heard it loud and clear**_." She took a moment to calm herself before speaking again. "I know that she hates me and wants nothing to do with me, God knows I deserve it. But how am I supposed to try and make it up to her if I can't talk to her? And before you start giving me more crap about my health, do I honestly look like I _care_? Right now the only thing that matters to me is seeing my child and hopefully getting the chance to hold her and tell her how _**sorry**_ I am for not knowing she was alive this entire time. I want to tell her that I love her more than anything else in the world and will do anything to earn her forgiveness. Even if she never wants to see me again, I just want one last chance to tell her that _**I love her**_." She stared directly into his eyes and for a moment he could've sworn he felt some kind of hidden power behind those violet eyes of hers. A power that she was certainly not afraid to unleash.

 _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed_ he thought. _And God help anyone who gets between a mother and her child._ This brought out an amused chuckle. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do because Ur narrowed her eyes in anger, thinking that he was mocking her. He quickly brought up his hands in a placating gesture and shook his head, though a grin was still present of his face which momentarily confused her.

"Well someone certainly has a way with words," he said as he turned around and opened the door. Ur was about to say something but stopped when he turned towards her. "I must say, it takes a lot for someone to change my mind. You should feel proud. I'm not a man who's so easily convinced to do the opposite once I've set my mind on something. Congratulations." He gave her a wink for comedic effect which caused her to sputter indignantly while a blush swept over her face. This only caused him to laugh before turning back around.

Though deep down, he had to admit that seeing her embarrassed made her all the more appealing to his eyes.

He scowled and immediately banished those thoughts. He had more important things to worry about. "I'll let the doctors know that you're well enough to be moved and request for a wheelchair. I'll return shortly to run a few more tests and then I'll take you to see your daughter." He then moved to close the door behind him.

"Wait!"

With a sigh he turned back towards her, and was momentarily stunned to see her giving him a warm smile while a few stray tears came escaped her eyes.

" _Thank You."_

He gave her slight smile in return. "I'm simply doing my job, _Miss Ur_." This caused her to scowl but what he said next immediately shocked her. "No parent should ever be separated from their child. Believe me when I say that I know that all _too_ well."

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two as no words were exchanged. For the first time since she met him, Ur took a quick moment to study his features. Too _really_ look at him.

Dark brown was cut short on top of a thin, yet perfectly shaped head. His face was slightly pale and she could detect the hint of a five o' clock shadow around his jaw. His nose was small and she could even spot a few freckles that were peppered over his cheeks. Despite his slightly unkempt appearance, he was by no means ugly. In fact, if Ur had to be honest with herself, she would say that he was actually kind of handsome for someone who looked like he didn't get much sun. However, it was his eyes that caught her attention the most, which were a deep chocolate brown that were even a darker shade than his hair. They say that eyes were the window to the soul, and she could tell just by looking into his eyes that this man was a lot more than he let on.

Thinking that she had nothing more to say, Newborn was about to leave until her voice once again stopped him in his tracks.

"What's your name?" she asked softly.

He smiled once again and answered. "My name is Cameron Newborn, though you may simply call me Cameron if you wish."

"Cameron," she whispered to herself, though he was still able to hear her. Not that she needed to know that. She looked up and once again gave him a warm smile, though there was also a slightly playful glint in her eyes. "I see. I'll be sure to remember that. Thank you, Cameron."

"Like I said, I'm simply doing my job, _Miss Ur._ "

" _I told you to stop calling me, Miss! I'm not even that old!"_

He laughed once again. "So you say," and with that he quickly made his way out and shut the door behind him. He pointedly ignored the stream of curses that she was screaming in his direction. He grinned and shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if he enjoyed his job a little _too_ much even for his own liking.

* * *

 _But with the beast inside_

 _There's nowhere we can hide_

* * *

" _GYYAAAHHHHHH!"_

" _This would be a lot easier for you if you simply gave me what I asked for."_

" _GO TO HELL!"_

" _Your choice."_

" _ **GYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!"**_

 _Pain surged through his entire body like hellfire. It was as if someone was forcibly opening every single pore on his skin and was dumping vats of molten magma into his veins. The pain was so intense he surprised that he hadn't simply dropped dead just from the feeling. But he knew why. He knew that they were simply toying with him, trying their best to get him to break. Every time he refused to speak, the pain would increase and he would scream until his voice finally gave out. They would bend him, sure, but never break._

 _Because Marines don't break no matter what kind of hellish torture they were put through._

 _The pain stopped and he was once again left in battered and slightly burned mess. Most of his clothing had either been torn or burned off during his first few 'interrogation' sessions. The only thing he had been left with were a pair of slightly burned Army BDU pants and his dog tags. However the metal only seemed to increase the pain as electricity coursed through his body and conducted through the metal. If he somehow managed to survive he honestly wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with a circular scar burned across his neck and chest. Though unfortunately that wouldn't be the only scar he'd end up with._

 _His well-toned chest, back, and pretty much every other exposed part of his body was now littered with lacerations and burn marks. Not only that but strangely enough there were also seemed to be a few imprints of what looked like suction cups one would see on tentacles that were also scattered on his chest and back. Said 'tentacles', however, were unfortunately the cause of his intense pain._

 _With what little strength he had left, he lifted his head to glare up at the grotesque looking creature that was currently grinning at him as it hung lazily upside down from the ceiling. The 'creature', if it could even be called that, looked like a fused hybrid between a poison dart frog and an octopus. Its slick, red skin was covered from head to tentacle with black spots while its underside was a light purple. Its beady yellow eyes stared into his own with what somehow looked be amusement, as if it was enjoying every second of the torture that it was giving him. Many of its slimy limbs were encircling his torso while two more circled themselves around his arms, which were currently handcuffed to a chain that hung from the ceiling. Despite the cool and wet temperature that the monster's appendages had, he knew for a fact that they could just as easily turn scalding hot with electricity at any time the creature chose. Or, at least, at any time its master commanded it to._

 _Speaking of masters…_

 _He shifted his gaze over towards the person standing no more than a foot away from him and, for just a moment, simply stared. Because no matter how many times he looked, he couldn't help but feel captivated by_ _ **her**_ _appearance._

 _The woman in front of him was what he considered to be beauty incarnate in literally every sense of the word. Porcelain skin as pale as snow yet not a single blemish or scratch could be seen on her. Her perfect hourglass figure, from her large, generous breasts to her curvaceously wide hips, all the way down to her thick and creamy thighs looked as though it were perfectly sculpted from the hands of the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, herself. Her attire consisted of an exotic looking Japanese-styled kimono that was blue in color and littered with strange black symbols. The entire thing seemed to be just barely held together by a single dark green sash that was tied around her slim waist. Though even then the tight-fitting kimono seemed to be barely cling on to her voluptuous body as he could plainly see the generous amount of cleavage and the tops of her almost exposed breasts. He also managed to make out the tops of her thighs due to the kimono's parted slits at the sides of its bottom half. Lastly, the rest of her legs were also concealed in green, thigh-high stockings that connected to the bottoms of a pair of white sandals. He also noticed that the tops of her exposed shoulder were covered in strange tattoos. The same could be said for another strange symbol that was also tattooed to her forehead. Her angelic face was framed by a waterfall of purple hair that cascaded down to the center of her slender back. His eyes then traveled to her face which, in his opinion, was her most beautiful characteristic. Eyes the same color as her hair gazed back into his without a hint of emotion, followed by a small button nose that ended with a pair of thin and graceful lips that were set into a thin line, displaying neither satisfaction nor displeasure._

 _All in all, he couldn't help but feel as though he were in the presence of an angel every time he saw her._

 _But he knew better. He knew more than anyone that the woman in front of him wasn't an angel in the slightest._

 _The horns that protruded from the sides of her side was just the first indicator._

 _No, the woman in front of him was a_ _ **Demon.**_

 _A sigh that was comparable to light wind breeze escaped her lips before she snapped her fingers. In an instant, the tentacles unwound from his body as the monster retracted its appendages and retreated back up towards the ceiling._

 _He wanted to speak but decided to keep silent as the woman sauntered over to him and gently grabbed his neatly shaven chin and brought up so that his eyes could meet hers._

" _Do you think that I take pleasure in your suffering?" Her melodic, yet slightly sultry voice held no emotion as she gazed deeply into his brown eyes. "Do you think that I enjoy watching you squirm in pain like a dried up worm in the blazing hot sun?"_

" _Wouldn't put it past you if ya did," he grunted. She was close enough that he could barely feel the swell of her breasts pressing up against chest. He could also smell a slightest scent of lavender and mango that coated her flawless skin. "You're a demon ain't ya? Isn't it in your job description or whatever to enjoy seeing us 'lowly humans' suffer?" he asked with a pained grin._

 _She said nothing as she continued to stare at him, though she did unconsciously start to gently rub his cheek with her thumb. Even now when he was trying his damn hardest to stay conscious, he could say with a hundred percent certainty that he enjoyed the feeling, considering that it was probably the only feeling he would be getting that wasn't just straight up electricity. Well, that and the fact that she was practically pressing her nearly exposed breasts into his chest._

 _Suddenly, her hand released his chin before she turned around and began walking away. Even as the tentacles began encircling his body once again, he couldn't help but appreciate the slight shake of her hips before she turned back and faced him._

" _I will admit, your kind of humans are certainly more resilient than the ones in Earthland. Dozens have stood where you are now and not even half of them have been able resist as much as you have. You're certainly quite a more interesting lot than they are. Disappointing really. Quite a few of us more than interested in seeing what your world is like. Myself, included." She gave another sigh. "Sadly we are forced to remain here with nothing but these even lesser humans for our amusement."_

" _Heh, well I'm flattered that ya think so highly of me," he spit some blood on the ground before gesturing towards the handcuffs. "Why don't ya come over here and get me outta this little mousetrap, then I'll gladly tell ya all you want to know about my planet. Ya know,_ _ **just like we used to**_ _."_

 _It may have been a trick of the light but he could've sworn that he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes before it immediately disappeared as if it were never there. "Apologies, but I'm afraid that time has long since passed. I only need one thing from you now, and all of this pain can end right now if you'd stop being so stubborn and just give it to me."_

" _Like I said earlier, sweetheart,_ _ **ain't happenin'**_ _."_

 _She clicked her teeth in annoyance before turning around and walking away. However, she stopped turned back hallway, and he was shocked to see her look at him with a pleading gaze._

" _I won't kill you, Michael, but for your sake and mine, please just give it up."_

" _ **Seilah-**_ _"_

" _ **Don't.**_ _" the walls surrounding them began to crack as an immense pressure filled the room. "Don't you_ _ **dare**_ _try and guilt trip me, Michael. You know that it won't work." With that said, she continued her walk at a faster pace. "_ _ **Yakdoriga**_ _, increase the voltage but make sure he's well enough to breathe. Lord_ _ **Mard Geer**_ _still wants him alive for questioning when he returns."_

 _He kept staring at her retreating until it completely disappeared from his line of sight. Even as electricity once again swept through his body with even greater ferocity._

* * *

 _When you feel my heat_

 _Look into my eyes_

 _It's where my_ _ **Demons**_ _hide_


End file.
